Mint Chocolate Delights
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I wanted to love these cookies, I really did. I was so excited when I found the mint chips at the market and thought what could possibly be bad about chocolate and mint?
Well…these are just eh. The chocolate cookie is nothing special, the mint chips are barely visible, and the end product looks like a big chocolate blob. They didn’t spread at all and look nothing like the picture on the website. Disappointing, but maybe I was just having an off baking day. Has anyone made these before? What did you think?
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) dark chocolate & mint morsels
Preparation
Preheat oven to 325° F.
Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by well-rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake for 11 to 13 minutes or until cookies are puffed and centers are set. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
Makes about 4 dozen cookies.
Recipe from Nestle.
Salted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
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I think the first time I ever baked with fleur de sel was when I made Dorie Greenspan’s World Peace Cookies, and I was immediately hooked. Since then, I’ve made a slew of other salty-sweet recipes, including the super popular NY Times chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Then David Lebovitz‘s salted butter chocolate chip cookie recipe showed up in my Google Reader, and I knew it had to be made. David’s recipe uses ingredients you already have on hand–no need for special flour or gigantic chocolate pieces–and since the fleur de sel is mixed in rather than sprinkled on top, you get little bites with a salty crunch. Mmmm! If you’re a fan of fleur de sel in sweets, this is a must-make recipe!
Photos of the process.
Ingredients
4 ounces (115g) salted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup packed (110g) dark or light brown sugar
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup (180g) flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt or kosher salt
1 1/3 cups (200g) coarsely chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (I used milk chocolate chips)
1 cup toasted nuts, coarsely chopped (I omitted these)
Preparation
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or by hand, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar just until smooth and creamy.
- Beat in the egg and the vanilla.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Stir the flour mixture into the beaten butter until combined, then mix in the chopped chocolate (including any chocolate dust) and the chopped nuts.
- Cover and chill the batter until firm. (David suggest letting it chill overnight, but I only waited a few hours.)
- To bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Form the cookie dough into rounds about the size of a large unshelled walnut. Place the mounds evenly spaced apart on the baking sheets, and press down the tops to flatten them so they are no longer domed and the dough is even.
- Bake the cookies for ten minutes, rotating the baking sheet midway during baking, until the cookies look about set, but are not browned.
- Remove from the oven and quickly tap the top of each with a spatula, then return to the oven for two to five more minutes, until the tops of the cookies are light golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cookies cool.
Recipe from David Lebovitz.
Smores Cookie Bars
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Over the last couple of years, and especially when I was out of work, I started taking after my dad and stocking up on certain items when they’re on sale. This easily explains why I have about a million bars of soap as well as a lifetime supply of Glad Press N Seal (best stuff ever!). Anyway, sometime at the beginning of summer, I noticed graham crackers and marshmallow creme on sale. Not a big fan of the creme, I bought and figured I’d use it to make fudge or something. Well, that something turned into these bars.
The original recipe calls for these to be made in an 8×8″ pan and cut into 16 bars. We have way more than 16 people at my office, so I knew this was one recipe that needed to be doubled. (You’re welcome Evan!) The bars were easy to pull together and taste incredible. I was on the fence about them the night I baked them, but the following day they won my heart. A soft, chewy cookie, a layer of chocolate, a layer of marshmallow, and topped with another cookie.
Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 (1.55 oz. each) milk chocolate candy bars
1 cup marshmallow creme
Preparation
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 8-inch square baking pan.
Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt; add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Press half of dough into prepared pan.
Arrange chocolate bars over dough, breaking as needed to fit. Spread with marshmallow creme. Patch together pieces of remaining dough over marshmallow; carefully press to form a layer.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.
Recipe adapted from Hershey’s.
Sugar Cookie Bars
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Did you know last Friday was Sugar Cookie Day? Neither did I, until Thursday afternoon when two coworkers hinted at it. (This is what happens when you’re the coworker with the baking blog.) Not wanting to let anyone down, and always up for trying a new recipe on willing guinea pigs, I decided this was the perfect opportunity to test the sugar cookie bar recipe I’ve had bookmarked for a few months.
I love sugar cookies, but they’re a pain–you have to roll the dough, cut the shapes, then frost each individual cookie. That is why sugar cookie bars are such a brilliant thing! No rolling or shape cutting–simply put the dough on a cookie sheet, bake it, then frost and slice the giant cookie. Simple!
Flavor-wise, I really like the cookie. The frosting was not my favorite (I like a glaze or cream cheese frosting on sugar cookies), but it was a HUGE hit at work, so it may be best to ignore my opinion. My coworkers especially liked the cookie to frosting ratio, which was about 50-50. Overall, these were a tremendous success and I would definitely use this recipe again.
Cookie Ingredients
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Cookie Preparation
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 13 x 18 inch sheet pan and line with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixture, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes on medium high. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Add the vanilla. Add the flour mixture in 2 addition, mixing until just combined.
Press the cookie dough into the sheet pan, using a greased spatula or parchment paper to spread it evenly. Bake for 10-15 minutes until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool completely.
Frosting Ingredients
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
4 cups confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4-5 tablespoons milk
Pinch of salt
Frosting Preparation
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the shortening and butter until combined and smooth. Add the vanilla and salt and mix until combined. Add the confectioners sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing after each addition. Cream together on medium high for about a minute. Add the milk 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing until smooth.
Spread onto cooled cookies. Slice into bars and serve.
Recipe from And Now for Something Completely Delicious.
Low(er) Fat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Earlier this week I did something I should have done months ago. I cleaned out my freezer. Why I continually put this task off is beyond me, but it took my fridge making a horrid noise for me to finally to do it. (Alas, the noise did not stop, even with the cleaner freezer.)
What did I find between the freezer burned edamame from Trader Joe’s and super old something wrapped in layers and layers of foil? My homemade applesauce that I had glorious plans to use in cookies and brownies last year. Oh yeah, that applesauce.
I immediately put a container of it in the fridge to defrost and started Googling low-fat oatmeal cookie recipes with applesauce. There are a ton of them! I quickly discovered this four-and-a-half star recipe and decided to give it a shot. I am happy to report these cookies are delicious–moist and chewy inside with a bit crisp on the outside, which to me is the perfect texture for oatmeal cookies. And there is no way you can tell they are missing all that butter! In fact, I think the next time I make them I may replace the two tablespoons of butter with two additional tablespoons of applesauce. Maybe even use some whole wheat flour and see what happens. I know, I live on the edge.
Photos of the process here.
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup plain unsweetened applesauce
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup chocolate chips
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugars. Beat in the egg, followed by the applesauce and the vanilla extract. Working by hand, stir in the flour mixture and the oats until just combined and no streaks of flour remain. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Drop tablespoonfuls of the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, flattening each cookie slightly. Bake for about 10-12 minute Cookies will be light brown at the edges when done.
- Let cool on sheet for 3 or 4 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Yields about two dozen cookies.
Recipe from RecipeZaar.
