Posts Tagged ‘cookies’

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE STUFFED WITH AN OREO

I realize I’m not reinventing the wheel here with everyone stuffing cookies and brownies and candy inside cookies and brownies and candy, but who can resist really.  It is a cookie stuffed with a cookie!!!  How can you go wrong?  I also love everyone’s expressions when they pick up a seemingly innocent chocolate chip cookie and bite into it to find ANOTHER cookie!  Every adult turns into a little kid and starts using sayings like, “dude, this rocks”.

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE STUFFED WITH TWIX

My husband is a cookie connoisseur/monster.  He can tell you where it is worth buying a cookie and where it is not anywhere in town.  Everywhere we go he buys a chocolate chip cookie.  It is insane.  He is constantly in trouble for eating a dozen cookies straight without taking into consideration that someone else might want ONE cookie.  I can’t tell you how many times he has accidentally eaten my cookie as well as his because he didn’t remember eating the first one.  It is a problem and I’m looking for a good counselor to discuss the matter with….

CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE STUFFED WITH A THIN MINT

Over the weekend Natalie brought me a cake to surprise me with while I was not home.  She brought Michael a cookie to eat to keep him from cutting into the cake before I got a chance to see it.  He has absolutely no will power!!

Needless to say these suckers were a total hit at my house.

TRIO OF AWESOMENESS

My hubby wasn’t home while I was baking all of these crazy cookies so I actually got to take photos of them all without fighting him off.  He lays claim to all of the “ugly” cookies that I don’t deem pretty enough to photograph.  Once the photo session is over he lays claim to all the other cookies.

Recipe:

This is the easiest recipe ever.  Go buy a box cookie mix and your favorite cookie or candy to stuff it with.

Preheat your oven and make the cookie dough according to the package directions.

Take about 2 tbs of dough and flatten it out on your pan.  Place the Oreo (or whatever stuffer you choose) on the dough and top with another 1 tbs of cookie dough.  Mush the cookie dough all around the “Oreo” until you can’t see the Oreo anymore.  If you have too much dough take some off.  Don’t have enough?  Add some more!  It is up to you how big you want your cookie.  Just make sure the stuffer is fully covered.

Bake according to the packaged directions.  (350 for about 13 minutes was perfect for me.)

Cool the cookies on a cooling rack and enjoy!

Of course you can use homemade cookie dough but I made all of these on a Wednesday night after running errands so 3 different cookies from scratch was so not going to happen!

Recipe Card

Okay, okay I’m a hypocrite.  I ramble on and on about how my posts are going to be healthy and how I’m turning over a new leaf and then this!  Cookies.  Warm gooey, tasty cookies.  But!!  These are healthy cookies.  Well, I mean they have oatmeal in them?!?  Isn’t oatmeal healthy? 

I found cinnamon chips at the grocery store the other day when I was going through all of the um, apples… in the …  cough, clear throat… vegetable aisle?  Okay fine.  I was totally rummaging through the chocolate in the baking aisle and came across these awesome chips!  Now that hell is finally cooling off, and by hell I mean the hottest place ever – Dallas, I’m totally in the mood for Fall things.  Cinnamon is definitely something that makes me think of Fall.  So, cinnamon chips = cinnamon chip oatmeal cookies.  Trust me these are totally worth the calories!

1  1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2  1/2 cups  old fashioned oats

1/2 pound or 2 sticks of butter

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tbs molasses

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups of cinnamon chips

The base recipe is from the “The Great Big Butter” cookbook as the Chewy Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies.  I have edited the recipe slightly.  I love this cookbook and recommend it highly!

Preheat the oven to 350 .

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and oats.  Set aside.

In the bowl of your mixer cream both the sugars with all the butter until the mixture is lightly whipped.  Add the eggs, molasses, and the vanilla.  Continue to mix together.  With your mixer on low add the oat and flour mixture to the egg and sugar mixture.  Once all the ingredients have been combined add in the cinnamon chips by hand.  Place the dough about 2″ apart and bake for 9-12 minutes.

This recipe will make about 3 dozen chewy cookies.

We were recently approached by Oh! Nuts to try out some of their products and feature them in recipes on our blog.*  After looking at their website, we couldn’t pass up an opportunity to try some of their great products.  Emily and I both love the bulk food aisle at the grocery store, but sometimes the dried fruits and nuts have sat in the bins a little long.  It can be a difficult task to cook up fruit that is beyond a little dry!  Well, what a nice surprise it was to open up the Oh! Nuts packages and have our nostrils fill with fresh dried fruit and nutty scents.  Yum.  Thanks Oh! Nuts!!

We received ground hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, and medjool dates from Oh! Nuts.  We decided right away that we would make three different kinds of cookies incorporating these great flavors.  Emily and I love cooking together and have an amazing flow when we’re in the kitchen.  We might make a huge mess, but we always have a great time laughing and tasting our creations.  Although I’m sure our husbands would like a little less giggling and little more dinner-making.  We didn’t feed them until 9:30 p.m. the night we baked up all these cookies.  I guess we’re sort of over-acheivers trying to prepare dinner AND dessert on a work night!  Next time we’ll stick to ordering a pizza when we bake.

Hazelnut Meringue Cookies
Adapted from Oregon Hazelnuts

4 eggs whites
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups toasted ground hazelnuts
food coloring (whatever color you want!)

Beat the egg whites until white peaks form.  The stiffer the peaks are the more fluffy your cookies will be.  I recommend using a stand mixer or hand mixer for this or your arm will want to fall off by the time you get those peaks!  Very slowly add in the sugar with the mixer still running until all of the sugar has been added.  Add in a little bit of food coloring until you achieve the color you are looking for.  Fold in the ground hazelnuts until the mixture is even.  These cookies will flatten into a puffy circle very easily so don’t worry about getting all fancy with the batter and the pan.  Just scoop the batter on to the pan keeping each cookie about 2” apart.  They really don’t spread very much so you can put them pretty close together.  Bake at 300 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.  This recipe make 25-30 cookies.

Macadamia Nut Shortbread
Adapted from Kauai Menu

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups plus 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 cups macadamia nuts, finely chopped
1/8 cup raw sugar

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt together until light and fluffy.   Add both flours, and beat until smooth.  In a shallow dish, stir together macadamia nuts and raw sugar.  Using a 1-inch scoop, form dough into balls and roll in macadamia nut mixture.  Place 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets, and flatten slightly with the back of a spatula.  Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown.  Makes about 30 cookies.

Coconut Date Cookies
Adapted from Carrots ‘N Cake

This batter is very sticky.  It will be too difficult to flatten the cookies before baking, so allow them to cool and then lightly press down to flatten a bit.  The inside may be slightly gooey, but they will be delicious all the same.

2 cups pitted dates, roughly chopped
1/2 cup oats
1 cup shredded or flaked coconut (unsweetened)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until there are no large pieces.  Scoop 1-inch balls of dough and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake for 12-14 minutes.  Allow to cool for a few minutes and then using your hands or the back of a spatula press down lightly on cookie to flatten.  Makes 2 dozen. 

*Full disclosure:  we received these products free from Oh! Nuts

I’m not going to lie to you people I epically failed on the first batch of these cookies.  Shame…  They were so pitifully flat.  They were so flat actually that some of the centers completely fell out.

The second batch however!!  Perfection!  They were fluffy and came out in little mounds with soft centers just how they are supposed to.  What is the difference you ask?  Flour!  Flour makes all the difference.  If your cookies come out too flat just add a tbs of flour, bake a few more, if they are still flat add a few more tbs of flour.  Lesson learned.

Also, I have to think of a better name for these cookies because because chocolate covered cherry chip cookies is way too long.   Any suggestions??

Ingredients:

1 egg

1 tbl Almond Extract

1 cup all purpose flour plus 2 tbs

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 stick of unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 cup cherry chips

1/2 cup chocolate chips (dark chocolate preferred)

bakers chocolate (semi-sweeet)

Heat your oven to 375 degrees.  In a small bowl combine the egg and the almond extract.  Whisk together and set aside.  In another medium size bowl combine the flour, salt and baking soda.  Whisk these items together and set aside.  In a large bowl combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar and butter together.  Using either your stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer blend together the sugar and the butter until it is creamy.  *TIP*  Your butter must be at room temperature!  If you add the butter when it is too cold the butter will not whip very well and will be clumpy.  You need the butter to be even throughout your mixture or your cookies will come out lumpy and the flavor will not be even.  If you microwave your butter to get it to room temperature it is inevitably too soft and your batter will be too gooey, which will result in super flat cookies.  So, the lesson here is be patient and don’t forget to pull your butter out a good 20min before you start.  I tend to forget to pull the butter out and use the microwave to warm the butter up.  If you have to do this be prepared to add an extra tbs of flour or so to thicken up your batter.  Trust me, it makes all the difference.  End of Tip **  Once your butter and sugar are creamed slowly add the egg and almond extract mixture with your mixer on medium.  Once blended begin adding the flour mixture a little at a time.  As soon as your batter comes together turn off your mixer and add the cherry chips.  Blend these in by hand.  Your mixer is to strong and will break up the chips into crumbs.  Place 2″-3″ dollups of dough on your cookie sheet about 2″ apart and place them in the oven for 10-12 minutes.

When the cookies are on the cooling rack start your sauce.  Pull out a small sauce pot and break up the bakers chocolate.  Set the heat to low and drop in the chunks of chocolate.  Allow them to melt into a chocolate sauce.  Once your cookies have cooled COMPLETELY dip one half of the cookie in the chocolate sauce.  Allow the excess to drip back in the pot and place the cookie back on the drying rack so that the chocolate can dry.  I like to double dip mine.  You don’t have to wait until the chocolate has completely cooled to double dip them but wait at least 10 minutes.  Don’t skimp out on the chocolate and buy cheapy melting chocolate.  A good quality chocolate makes all the difference!

I tend to get hungry in the afternoon.  Somewhere around 3:00 when my mind is ready to head home or take a nap, my tummy starts to grumble about dinner.  I’ve found that a nice warm cup of tea can really take care of my sleepy head and my rumbling tummy.  Although sometimes I need a little something substantial to go along with my tea.  Or in other words, I need a freaking cookie. 

I recently purchased Kim Boyce’s new cookbook, Good to the Grain.  I have read so many wonderful things about the book and her recipes, and can honestly say everyone was right.  I’ve read the cookbook from cover to cover and filled it with little tabbies because there are so many recipes I want to try.  As soon as I stopped on the buckwheat wafer recipe I knew I had found a winner.  It boasts flavor without an overpowering sweetness.  It’s the perfect cookie to eat with a cup of tea or coffee. 

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