World Peace Cookies

When I first saw this recipe making the rounds with the Tuesdays with Dorie folks, I wasn't sure I would really be interested in it.  Sure, it's got chocolate in it and it's a cookie, so it sounds good, but in the photos, it looked like a very sandy, shortbread-y kind of cookie. Not my cup of tea.  One night, though, I was truly craving a chocolate cookie, and I came across this recipe printout again.  I thought to myself, Dorie Greenspan has never let me down, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  I'm darn glad I did.  These cookies were awesome.  I can see why she called them World Peace Cookies - they truly could cause world peace, they make you so happy.  Especially if you eat them when they're fresh and warm from the oven, oh yum.  I got in the habit of just baking up a couple at a time so that I could have them nice and warm.  They are still tasty when they're not fresh out of the oven, and I'm sure I would still be raving about them if I hadn't eaten any of them all warm and gooey.  Really, though, if you bake these, do yourself a favor and eat one hot out of the oven!

World Peace Cookies

by Dorie Greenspan

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1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 stick plus 3 tbsp (total of 11 tbsp) unsalted butter at room temperature

2/3 cup packed light brown sguar

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp fleur de sel of 1/4 tsp fine sea salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup chocolate chips (or chopped Valrhona feves)

1. Sift together the flour, cocoa and baking soda and set aside.

2. Cream together the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add the salt and vanilla and mix to combine.  Add the flour mixture to the batter and pulse a few times to combine, covering the bowl with plastic wrap or a towel to prevent flyaway.  Stir in chocolate chips.

3. Gather the dough and divide into two.  Roll each half out into a smooth log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 3 days (you can shorten the cooling time by stickign it into the freezer for 20 minutes immediately after wrapping and then moving it to the fridge for 30-40 minutes).

4. Preheat the oven to 325.  Slice the cookies into 1/2 inch slices and bake for 12 minutes.  Dough will still be soft.  Serve warm or at room temperature with milk.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love Brown Eyed Baker.  She has some fantastic baking recipes, that's for sure.  Her Better Than Brownies Cookies are filled with intense chocolate flavor and seriously, it's quite possible that they're just as the title says: better than brownies.  I especially love her Top 100 list of things she wants to make, and I fully want to make a list like that for myself.  I always come across recipes I want to try, and then I forget about them, so beware - there's a list a-coming around here!

When I came across this recipe on Brown Eyed Baker, I knew that I had to try it.  Immediately.  It has all of Husband's favorite elements: oatmeal, peanut butter, sugar...and chocolate chips are okay with him in moderation too.  These cookies got a resounding A+ from him, and I enjoyed them a bunch too, especially fresh from the oven and still warm.  Even Toddler is a big fan, and he hasn't yet decided if he really likes peanut butter yet.  I can see myself making these cookies as an awesome after school snack when Toddler gets bigger.

Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies from Brown Eyed Baker
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1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. On medium speed, cream together the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat to combine. On low speed, gradually add the flour until just combined. Stir in the oats, and then the chocolate chips.
4. Use a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons) and drop dough onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. Cool completely on the baking sheet and then store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Oreo Chocolate White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I love Oreos.  So much so that I've even baked my own home-baked version of Oreos, which are mighty good. These cookies, though, are a good marriage of a chocolate shortbread kind of cookie with creamy white chocolate chunks throughout, heralding back to the creamy white center of an Oreo.  Yum.  My mouth practically waters at the thought of them, they're so good.  There is very little that a good chocolate cookie can't make better.  Like when your husband is going away for a week, and you feel like your To Do list grows exponentially every day.  Like now.  So I'm going to curl up with some nice warm cookies and a nice big glass of milk and it will all be better in the morning.  Phew. 

Oreo Chocolate White Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Printer-friendly recipe

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup dutch-processed cocoa
1/2 cup room temperature butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chunks or chips

1. Preheat the oven to 325 and prepare a cookie sheet with a sheet of parchment or Silpat.
2. Whisk flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa together, and set aside.
3. Beat butter on medium-high speed until light, then add sugars, creaming well.  Add the vanilla and beat until smooth.
4. Add the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternately with the milk, mixing well.  Chill the dough for at least 15 minutes.
5. I used a smaller cookie scoop with these cookies, about a heaping tablespoon per cookie.  Scoop the dough your prepared cookie sheet and bake.  For smaller cookies like what I made, bake for approximately 10-14 minutes.  If you prefer a larger, bakery-style cookie, go for about 3 tbsp per scoop, and bake for 16-18 minutes, or until just set.  Cookies will look underdone - don't be alarmed!  Allow cookies to cool fully on the cookie sheet.

Mrs. Field's Snickerdoodles

I didn't grow up with snickerdoodles.  I had my first snickerdoodle as an adult at a cookie exchange, and it was awesome, and I was mildly horrified that I'd lived my life for so long without snickerdoodles.  I vowed that they would be something my kids would grow up with.

Toddler had his first snickerdoodle at Fresh Market not too long after he turned one.  He devoured it.  Just loved the darn thing.  Since then, I've been trying to find the most awesome snickerdoodle recipe, one that's big and chewy, soft in the middle, with awesome cinnamon flavor.  I've found it!  This recipe is nice and small, though easy to double, and makes about 15-18 cookies, depending on the size of your scooper.  These cookies come highly recommended from my whole family.

Mrs. Fields's Snickerdoodles
Printer-friendly recipe

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars with an electric mixer on high speed. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.

2. In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar.

3. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well.

4. Preheat oven to 300 degrees while you let the dough rest for 30 to 60 minutes in the refrigerator.

5. In a small bowl, combine the sugar with the cinnamon for the topping.

6. Take about 2 1/2 tablespoons of the dough and roll it into a ball. Roll this dough in the cinnamon/sugar mixture and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Take a drinking glass, grease it with a little bit of Crisco and press down on cookie to flatten.  Repeat for the remaining cookies.

7. Bake the cookies for 13 to 15 minutes and no more. The cookies may seem undercooked, but will continue to develop after they are removed from the oven. When the cookies have cooled they should be soft and chewy in the middle.

Makes 15 to 18 cookies.

Triple Chocolate Cookies

Warning: Before you read any further, make sure you've got a gallon of milk on hand.

I love chocolate.  This is no secret.  I would wager to guess that at least 75% of the dessert recipes I've posted here have chocolate as a key ingredient.  These cookies are the perfect thing to have after a long day, especially with a glass of ice cold milk.  These cookies are wonderfully chewy, bursting with chocolate flavor, but very different from the brownie cookies I've seen floating around on the web lately.  Those are mostly brownie, just shaped like a cookie.  These are mostly cookie, with the flavors of a brownie.

These cookies are the kind of recipe my dad would have made - he was always the cookie baker when I was growing up, thanks to his arm of steel.  His beating arm made a stand mixer totally unnecessary.  This recipe is really just a good chocolate chip cookie recipe with some cocoa powder thrown in and the quantity of flour reduced as a result.  The only challenge with this recipe is letting the cookies cool - because they will be somewhat fragile until you have let them sit on the cookie sheet for at least five minutes after baking.  Just go do something else, preferably in another room of your home, where the lovely smell of the cookies doesn't force you to eat a cookie before it's fully set.  It will crumble all over you.  I promise.  It will taste wonderful, but it will make a huge mess.  Trust me.  I speak from experience.

Triple Chocolate Cookies
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1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 3/4 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (or dark chocolate cocoa powder)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips (I recommend Hershey's Special Dark!)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
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. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 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.

Chocolate Chip Brownie Delights

I must thank Blue Cotton Mom of Blue Cotton Memory for this super easy, ridiculously addictive recipe. She even featured my slowly-becoming-infamous Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe in conjunction with these babies!

I whipped these up for my husband and his best friend, who's in town to celebrate Toddler (formerly known as Baby)'s birthday. They proceeded to eat every last one of them. Seriously. I'm lucky I managed to get a picture of these darn things! I highly recommend you make them. Today. There is no excuse.

And stay tuned later this week for some of the recipes I used at Toddler's second birthday party this weekend!

Chocolate Chip Brownie Delights

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1 package Nestle Toll House cookie dough (or one recipe homemade chocolate chip cookie dough - I was lazy, I used the Toll House dough)

1 package brownie bites (or one recipe homemade brownies - again, I was lazy and used the storebought kind)

1. Take your cookie dough log and cut into 1/2" inch pieces, then cut those each in half and roll into balls. Dig out a mini-muffin tin and place a ball in each hole.

2. Bake according to package, at 375 for 8 minutes. While they're baking, cut brownie bites into thirds, and when you take the cookies out, place a brownie bite piece in the middle of each one, and press down a little bit.

3. Let them cool fully - really. They will fall apart if you take them out too soon. Yes, they taste yummy when they're oogey gooey. But not when half of the cookie sticks in the mini-muffin pan.

4. Devour with a big glass of milk. Super yum!

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Husband insists this is the the thirtieth recipe for chocolate chip cookies I've tried. I'm pretty sure it's not, and that the number is more like the low teens. In any case, it's immaterial, because these really are the perfect chocolate chip cookie!

As you may know, I religiously follow Cook's Illustrated and America's Test Kitchen, and recently there was an episode of America's Test Kitchen where they attempted to outdo the NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe that's been making it's way around various food blogs for the last year or so. I think they succeeded. This is the most delicious cookie I've ever tasted, and I've tasted quite a few.

Oh - and I may not be blogging much this week, I've got massive preparing to do this week for Baby's second birthday party this Saturday. I have a ridiculously long to do list, so I'm going to be MIA probably for a little while, so bear with me, and have a cookie!

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

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1 3/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour (8 3/4 oz)
1/2 tsp baking soda
14 tbsp unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)
1/2 c granulated sugar (3 1/2 oz)
3/4 c packed dark brown sugar (5 1/4 oz)
1 tsp table salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 c Hershey Special Dark chocolate chips
3/4 c chopped pecan or toasted walnuts (totally optional - I skipped this!)

1. Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 375. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set asidde.
2. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat, using a heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to a large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.
3. Add both sugars, salt and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), given dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.
4. Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tbsp (or use #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 balls per sheet.
5. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack and allow cookies to cool completely before serving.

Double Fudge Cookies

As I mentioned before, I grew up loving Great American Cookie Company's cookies. In the last six months or so, they've disappeared from my local malls, and I've been left missing their cookies desperately. Last week, I attempted a chocolate chip cookie knock-off, but I had actually thought it was a knock-off of their double fudge cookies, which were my personal favorite. That's what happens when you really want something and you read (and print) a million recipes, and try to put something together that's missing an integral ingredient (namely cocoa powder). When I started to make these cookies, I re-read the ingredients I had written out three or four times to make sure I had it right this time.

If I do say so myself, these are some awesome cookies. Fudgy, just gooey enough, with a little bit of crunch around the edges and tons of chocolate flavor. Very, very tasty. And look, aren't they pretty? Husband helped out with this lovely shot of these cookies, and I must say, it's probably one of the best food photos I've taken thus far in my completely amateur food photography experience. I'm learning!

Anyway, do yourself a favor. Make these cookies tonight. Just make sure you've got lots of milk on hand, because this is definitely a cookie that requires some milk to go along with it.

Double Fudge Cookies (like at Great American Cookie Company)

Printer-friendly recipe

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 3/4 cups all-purpose unbleached flour

1/2 cups cocoa - dutched is better, but natural is OK too - I ran out of Dutched and used half of each

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (or bittersweet or milk - whatever floats your boat)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugars until fluffy and pale yellow in color.

2. Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined.

3. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients together, and add slowly to batter. Mix well.

4. Add your chocolate chips and mix well.

5. Either scoop dough in heaping tablespoons or roll into large balls and place approximately 3 inches apart on a lightly greased (or Silpat'd) cookie sheet. Before you put them in the oven, flatten them with either your fingers or the bottom of a drinking glass, much like you would a sugar cookie. This ensures the big, mall cookie appearance.

4. Bake at 350 for 9 minutes. They will look underdone, I know, but they aren't. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for approximately 5-8 minutes, then move gently onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Great American Cookie Company Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

The first thing I made in my brand new Kitchen Aid Professional series stand mixer is a new chocolate chip cookie recipe. I consider myself a bit of a chocolate chip cookie aficianado; in fact, I've toyed with the idea of making a new blog, a la The Brownie Project, dedicated to my attempts to find the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. Alas, not enough time.

I had intended to make a double fudge cookie as my first recipe for my new stand mixer, but I misread this recipe, and somehow managed to mentally add cocoa powder when I read it. This recipe probably would do well with the addition of cocoa powder, but since it was new to me, I didn't want to alter it the first time around. They are quite tasty, especially fresh out of the oven. Nice chew to them, with a nice caramel flavor. Definitely make sure to have a gallon of ice cold milk on hand to go with these cookies! I think they come pretty close to the flavor of the Great American Cookie Company cookies, though my big cookie scoop was M.I.A. when I baked these, so the size is certainly not quite right. If you grew up on those mall cookies, you will be a fan of these, definitely.

P.S. - If you're stopping by from Bake at 350's Flavor of the Month, thank you! If you need more of a holiday cookie fix, click here to visit my collection of Christmas cookie recipes from this year's Christmas Cookie Bonanza!

Great American Cookie Company Copycat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Printer-friendly recipe

2 1/4 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

3 cups of mix-ins (like chocolate chips, nuts, peanut butter chips, M&Ms, etc.)

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Mix flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl with a whisk.

3. Mix butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in mixer bowl until creamy.

4. Add eggs and mix.

5. Gradually stir in flour mixture.

6. Add 3 cups mix-ins; stir with a wooden spoon to combine.

7. Drop batter by tablespoonfuls, two inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

8. Bake 10 minutes or until golden. Cool on wire rack.

Christmas Cookie Bonanza: Easy Cookies

These holiday "cookies" are kind of a running joke in my family. The original 3x5 card that my mom wrote the recipe on back in the day has a subtitle in parentheses - Not-So-Easy Cookies. This is because, much like the Peanut Butter Balls, Mom had the hardest time making these cookies pretty. You break them apart once they've cooled, much like a candy bark, and she could never make them break into pretty pieces. I'm not much better, but I don't think the pieces are as hideous as my mother used to say they were. Plus, these things taste so good, and they really are quite easy to make.

Easy Cookies

Printer-friendly recipe

Saltines

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

12 oz package chocolate chips and/or peanut butter chips

1. Line a jelly roll pan with foil. Layer with saltines (however many fit).

2. Boil butter and brown sugar together for 3 minutes. Pour over crackers.

3. Bake at 350 for 5 minutes. While baking, melt your chocolate chips.

4. Immediately top with melted chocolate chips. Let cool 1-2 hours. Turn pan upside down, peel foil off cookies and break apart into pieces. This is sometimes not-so-easy.

Christmas Cookie Bonanza: Peanut Butter Balls

Peanut butter balls have a special place in my Christmas memories. I can remember making peanut butter balls with my mom growing up, and the big hissy fit that usually came along with making them. They used to piss her off, because she liked her baked goods to look perfect - and dipping the peanut butter balls in melted chocolate isn't exactly easy. It tends to make a mess, which would always make her upset. We tried dipping them with toothpicks, to make getting the balls out of the chocolate easier, which then left little holes in the bottom of the balls. Mom would try to fill the holes with chocolate, which sometimes made it look worse. Another year, she tried just dropping them in the chocolate and fishing them out with a spoon. That year, the balls didn't look so beautiful. These days, I either drizzle chocolate on top and skip the dipping altogether or use toothpicks. If you've got another method, I'm all ears!

Peanut Butter Balls
Printer-friendly recipe

16-18 oz peanut butter
4 c powdered sugar
1 cup soft butter
12 oz chocolate chips
1/2 cake paraffin wax

1. Mix peanut butter and sugar well. Freeze overnight.
2. Roll into balls.
3. Melt chocolate and paraffin together and mix well.
4. Dip the rolled balls in chocolate and place on wax paper to cool.

Christmas Cookie Bonanza: Slice and Bake Butterscotch Cookies

These cookies are ridiculously easy to make, and so pretty! If you're a fan of Cut Outs, but not a fan of the work to decorate them, this recipe is a great alternative!

Slice-and-Bake Butterscotch Cookies
adapted from Everyday Food

Printer-friendly recipe

1 1/2 sticks (12 tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar (for coating)
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for paper
1/2 tsp salt

1. With an electric mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy, scraping bowl as necessary. Add 3/4 cup light brown sugar and beat until combined. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla, then flour and salt.
2. Transfer dough to a piece of lightly floured parchment or waxed paper. Using the paper so dough won't stick to your fingers, roll into a log, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap well and twist ends of paper to seal. Refrigerate until firm, 60-90 minutes (or up to 1 week). Dough can be frozen up to 3 months. Place wrapped log into resealable bag, label and date.
3. Preheat oven to 350. When ready to bake, roll the log int eh 1/2 granulated sugar, or red decorators' sugar to coat, and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place on a baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Christmas Cookie Bonanza: Festive Fudge Cookies

I just started making these cookies a few years ago - I found the recipe on Betty Crocker's website, altered it a little bit, and fell in love with these! They're awesome and adorable when you use Hershey's Hugs, but they also taste amazing with Andes mints in the center instead. These also keep quite well, but if you do some with Hugs and some with Andes, make sure to store them in separate containers to avoid contamination!

Festive Fudge Cookies

Printer-friendly recipe

1/3 cup butter
6 oz unsweetend chocolate
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 pouch sugar cookie mix
~60 Hugs candies, unwrapped**

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Nuke chocolate and butter in the microwave for one minute. Stir well until smooth.
2. Stir in condensed milk. Stir in cookie mix.
3. Shape dough into 1" balls.
4. Bake 6-7 minutes. Immediately press 1 candy into each cookie.
5. Let cool thoroughly before storing.

** Andes mints work super well in lieu of Hugs, I just cut them in half.

Christmas Cookie Bonanza: Snowballs

These are Husband's favorite Christmas cookie, by far. He loves these cookies, so I diligently make them every year. I'm not a huge fan, personally, but on the bright side, they keep well, so they're great for passing out to friends and family. It's a super buttery, melt-in-your-mouth kind of cookie, which I've also seen called Mexican Wedding Cakes or Melting Moments. This recipe comes from my mom's friend Betty, and it's better than any other snowballs I've had by a mile.

Snowballs
Printer-friendly recipe

4 sticks soft butter
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans

1. Cream butter and sugar with mixer or in stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add cornstarch and vanilla then flour. Beat at high speed until very fluffy, about 5 minutes. Stir in nuts with spatula or wooden spoon.
2. Drop by spoonfuls. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes until edges just start to brown. Sprinkle confectioners' sugar on top. Move cookies to cooling rack, and once completely cool, dunk cookies in confectioners' sugar before storing. Or, roll into balls, refrigerate for at least 10 minutes to firm up, toss balls in a bag of confectioners' sugar.

Christmas Cookie Bonanza: Molasses Cookies

Molasses cookies are a classic at the holidays. One of the best things about this recipe is that the dough can stand in the freezer for a good period of time. It's an easy recipe to make ahead and toss in the oven when you have company coming over. Not only that, but they smell amazing when they're baking. Rolling them in sugar also gives them a nice look. My mom's been making this recipe for my entire life and it's always a hit when she shares her holiday cookies with her friends.

Soft Molasses Cookies

Printer-friendly recipe

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup soft butter

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg

2 1/4 cup flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp sugar

1. Beat butter, brown sugar, molasses, and egg in large bowl with mixer. Stir in remaining ingredients, except sugar.

2. Freeze overnight, roll into 1/2" balls, and roll in sugar.

3. Bake 13-16 minutes at 325 degrees. Store in a tightly-closed container.

Christmas Cookie Bonanza: Peppermint Brownies

Chocolate and peppermint go together nicely, don't they? These brownies are a super marriage between the two flavors and are always a hit. In fact, they were a hit last night at our holiday book club meeting, where we discussed "Nineteen Minutes." Not only are they tasty, but they're relatively easy to make and will please any chocolate lover you know.

Peppermint Candy Cane Brownies
Printer-friendly recipe

Brownies:
4 squares unsweetened chocolate (4oz)
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Frosting:
2 cup powdered sugar
4 tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp peppermint extract
1 tbsp milk
pink food coloring

Chocolate Glaze:
6 oz (about a cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips ,you could also use dark
6T real butter

Additional:
1/2-1 C crushed candy canes (Use Bob's)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. The chocolate you want is baking chocolate, which is sold in bars by the chocolate chips. Make sure it is unsweetened baking chocolate. Chop the squares a bit so they'll be easier to melt.
3. Then place them in a microwave-safe bowl along with the 2 sticks of butter (also chopped). Melt in 30-45 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted and smooth. Set aside.
4. In a stand mixer or with electric beaters, beat eggs for about 3 minutes until thick and frothy.
5. Add sugar and vanilla and beat to combine. Then add in the melted chocolate and butter that you set aside. Combine flour and baking powder and whisk into brownie batter by hand until just combined. Pour into a lightly greased 9x13 pan. If you want to make the job much easier, line your pan with foil first (I highly recommend this!)
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Test with a toothpick for doneness and don't over bake! When brownies are done, cool on a cooling rack. When completely cool, pop in the fridge to chill. (makes the frosting spreading easier).
7. Next, combine all frosting ingredients and beat until light and fluffy. Add extra milk by if you need a little more. Spread evenly over cooled/chilled brownies and place back in the fridge to chill again while you do the final step.
8. Place chocolate chips and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and cook in 30 second intervals until smooth.

9. Set aside for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, so it can cool off just a bit. Quickly spread on top of brownies. I say quickly because the frosting is cool and the chocolate is hot. If you dawdle too much and try to make the chocolate layer perfect, you'll make a big gooey mess. Just spread it on quick.
10. Crush the candy canes. Sprinkle the crushed candy canes on top and return to the fridge until chocolate is set on top.

11. Remove from fridge a few minutes before serving. Cut into squares, eat, ooh and ahh, and then eat another one. Or two. Or three. Whatever your limit is.

Christmas Cookie Bonanza: Spritz

Our next entry in the Christmas Cookie Bonanza is Spritz cookies, the kind of butter holiday cookie you make with a cookie press. Incidentally, I appear to own three of those handy goodies. And I only make Spritz once a year. I have apparently bought a cookie press every year the last few years, deeming the previous year's model not good enough, for whatever reason. And yet, I haven't come across any of the three of them as I've been working on unpacking my Christmas goodies this week. Maybe this is how I wind up buying a new one every year...

Anyway, Spritz are a tasty cookie that you can decorate, with piped on frosting, non-pareils and other sprinkles, colored sugars and so forth. I honestly like the taste of them without any decorations on them, but I rarely leave any without decoration. They just wouldn't be Christmas cookies without the beautiful decorations!

This is a tried-and-true recipe, I've used it since 2005 and always had wonderful results.

Spritz
Printer-friendly recipe

1 cup 10x sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
2 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

1. Cream butter and sugar. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Add egg and vanilla.
3. Sift flour and salt together and add to batter. Mix thoroughly.
4. Use a cookie press and add cookies to ungreased cookie sheet.
5. Bake at 400 for 5-7 minutes.

6. Let cool fully before decorating.

7. To decorate, whisk some egg whites in a bowl, and get a paintbrush. Paint the area you want your sugars to stick to with your paintbrush, then either dip your wet cookie in sugar or sprinkle your sugar on top of your cookie, whichever floats your boat.

NOTE: Some people like to color their cookie dough instead of decorating with colored sugars and things.

Christmas Cookie Bonanza: Holiday Cut Outs

This year, I'll be sharing 13 Christmas cookie recipes in my official Christmas Cookie Bonanza of 2009. I love Christmas cookies. So much so that one Christmas cookie is now a year-round cookie in my family, the wagon wheel. I'm kicking off the Christmas Cookie Bonanza here with a traditional cookie cutter cookie, the Cut Out.

This is the first Christmas cookie I'm posting this year because it is the most basic. It's easy to make, and it's a great crowd pleaser. Everyone loves a good cut out cookie, decorated in a cute way. I grew up decorating cut outs every year, so much so that the first few Christmases I was on my own as an adult, I didn't make them. Didn't want to. I was all decorated out. I think this is the first year I'm actually excited about making them! Maybe it's because part of me thinks that my little boy might enjoy them this year, and also because I'm finally starting to take pride in my baked goods.

Butter Cut Outs

2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (5 1/2 oz) superfine sugar (see note)
1/4 tsp table salt
16 tbsp (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces, cool room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp cream cheese, cool room temperature

1. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, mix flour, sugar and salt on low speed until combined, about 5 seconds. With the mixer running on low, add butter 1 piece at a time; continue to mix until mixture looks crumbly and slightly wet, about 1 minute longer. Add vanilla and cream cheese and mix on low until dough just begins to form large clumps, about 30 seconds.

2. Remove bowl from mixer; knead dough by hand in bowl for 2 to 3 turns to form large cohesive mass. Turn out dough onto countertop; divide in half, pat into two 4-inch disks, wrap each in plastic and refrigerate until they begin to firm up, 20-30 minutes. Dough can be refrigerated up to 3 days or frozen up to 2 weeks; defrost in refrigerator before using.)

3. Adjust an oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out 1 dough disk to even 1/8-inch thickness between 2 large sheets of parchment paper; slide rolled dough on parchment onto baking sheet and chill until firm, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, repeat with second disk.
4. Working with first portion of rolled dough, cut into desired shapes using cookie cutter(s) and place shapes on parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until light golden brown, about 10 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking time. Dough scraps can be patted together, chilled nad re-rolled once. Cool cookies on wire rack to room temperature.
5. Decorate to your liking using royal icing, canned iccing, sprinkles and other decorations.

NOTE: If you can't find superfine sugar, process regular granulated sugar in a food processor for about 20 seconds. This will make a close approximation of superfine sugar.

Daddy's Cape Cod Oatmeal Cookies

I don't remember my dad doing much cooking in the kitchen when I was a kid. I remember he tried to make me a grilled cheese sandwich once and put mustard on it. (Ew!) He was, however, a pretty good baker. The only problem was the he wasn't always too interested in following the directions for a recipe. For instance, he often would cheat to soften butter, or not let chocolate cool for brownies, but for the most part, it didn't impact the flavor of the cookies and brownies he baked.

Dad mostly baked cookies. He had an arm pretty equivalent to a stand mixer, and he so far has been the only person in the family to make awesome oatmeal cookies. This is his recipe, I have no idea where it came from, but it was the only one he would make. Over the years, I've tried tweaking it, and it's just best the way it was back then.

These cookies are ridiculously easy to make, so definitely give this recipe a try. It's one of my favorites.

Daddy's Cape Cod Oatmeal Cookies
Printer-friendly recipe

1 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp molasses
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 cup oatmeal

1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix melted butter with sugar. Add molasses and combine.
2. Beat one egg in separate bowl and add to mixture.
3. Add milk, mix.
4. Mix dry ingredients, except oatmeal, in separate bowl. Add slowly to cookie dough.
5. Add oatmeal last, combine.
6. Spoon onto cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 12 minutes. Make sure to place on parchment or grease cookie sheet.

Homemade Oreos

How can you go wrong with homemade Oreos? Heck, how can you go wrong with store-bought Oreos? Oreos are one of those things that I just love. Can't get enough of them. But only if they are accompanied by a tall glass of milk. Without the milk, it's just not the same. I still like them, but nowhere near in the same way.

When I first spotted this recipe almost a year ago, I knew I had to try it, I just hadn't found the right reason to try it. I decided this month to make it for book club. I love bringing treats to book club, and I think for the most part, everyone enjoys them, although I know that some of them probably curse me for bringing temptation to the table. Oh well, everything in moderation, right? Except when you're watching Real Housewives on Bravo with a plate full of homemade Oreos and a glass of milk. Ooh, sounds like heaven.

The wafers were ridiculously easy to put together, and I had them all baked up within 45 minutes of turning my oven on. They smelled wonderful! I wanted desperately to eat one, for taste testing purposes you know, but I had exactly an even number of cookies, so I didn't want to mess with that.

Piping on the frosting was also relatively easy, and only took me ten minutes or so. So...in theory...55 minutes of work for homemade Oreos? Well, let me tell you, they're totally worth it. And it's quite possible that I may never be able to enjoy a store-bought Oreo again. They're that good.

And just so you know, I tinted the frosting pink because some of us (myself included) are participating in a breast cancer walk this weekend, and the theme for all of the food at Book Club was breast cancer awareness month. Festive, right?

Homemade Oreos
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Note from Smitten Kitchen: Let’s talk about the sugar for a minute, shall we? This is a sweet cookie. A good, sweet cookie. Yet, if you think of an actual Oreos, the wafers are fairly un-sweet and actually on the slightly salty side, which contrasts with the super-sweetness of the filling bringing harmony, happiness, yada yada. If you want your cookie closer to that original, you can take out a full half-cup of the sugar.

Makes 25 to 30 sandwich cookies

For the chocolate wafers:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar [see recipe note]
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

For the filling:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.
2. In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.
4. To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
5. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream. Dunk generously in a large glass of milk.

Printable recipe