my current favorite cookie

Not having a ton of time right now but still having plenty of chocolate cravings, I've been enjoying recipes and pictures from other great blogs. These are my current favorite cookies from the blog How Sweet It Is. Cured my chocolate and peanut butter cravings at the same time! Why is it that my sweet tooth just intensifies when I'm pregnant with baby boys?

Triple Threat Chocolate Fudge Peanut Butter Cookies

Sugar Cookies

Happy Valentine's Day! For a fun family night, try making these cookies with your kids, using heart shaped cookie cutters and pink frosting!

This is my mother-in-law's recipe and it produces by far the most delicious and beautiful sugar cookies I have ever tasted. I was never a fan of sugar cookies in the past, usually they are dry and tasteless and I could never get them to look nice.

Enter this recipe. I wish I was a better cookie froster, these are cute but pretty boring (although so yummy)!




All the cookie decorating talent in my family belongs to my husband. Check out this Achmed the Dead Terrorist he made!

Note: try freezing these cookies, they are delicious eaten right out of the freezer.







printable recipe

Sugar Cookies

yield: 2 dozen cookies using 2 inch cookie cutter

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup sour cream

1tsp. vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3 1/4 cup flour

Cream butter and sugar together in a bowl.

Add egg, sour cream and vanilla.

Mix until well blended.

In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Gradually beat dry ingredients into wet ingredients then chill dough until firm.

Roll out dough to about 1/2 inch thick.

Cut into desired shapes.

Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until cookies start to brown on the bottom.

Frosting

Mix together:

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup shortening

2 tsp vanilla

a pinch of salt

3 Tbsp + 1 tsp milk

Beat in 3 1/3 cup powdered sugar until fluffy

Add a few drops of food coloring, if desired.

Spread frosting on cookies.

Allow frosting to set, if you can.

Hehe.

This recipe is featured in Menu Plan 11.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

What do you get when you combine peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and oatmeal cookies? Heaven, you say? Nope, but close!

This recipe is slightly adapted from one found on Brown Eyed Baker.

printable recipe 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

makes 1 1/2 dozen cookies

1 cup flour (add a couple of Tbsp for high altitude)

1 tsp baking soda (scant tsp for high altitude)

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)

1/4 cup butter-flavored crisco (you can increase the butter to 1 stick and omit the shortening but I find I need it in my high altitude)

1/2 cup peanut butter 

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

On medium speed, cream together the butter, crisco, 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.

Lightly spray baking sheets with cooking spray. Scoop out about 1/3 cup cookie dough, and shape it into a slightly elongated ball.

Holding the ball in both hands, gently break it apart.

Place each half on baking sheet, rough side up, about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. Let set for 10 minutes on the baking sheet then remove to a paper towel to finish cooling.

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe (and probably my love of food in general) came from my grandpa. I remember he taught me how to make these cookies when I was in junior high. After that whenever my sisters or I would make them, we would double the batch and bring some to him. His response? "You need more practice!" Translated: these are really good, keep making more so I can eat them!

My grandpa got this recipe from Crisco. There are two important keys to making this recipe work well: Butter-flavored Crisco and a little extra flour.

 printable recipe

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies

3/4 cup butter-flavored crisco

1 1/4 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp milk

1 Tbsp vanilla flavoring

1 egg

1 3/4 cup plus a couple of tablespoons of flour

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional, you can add some extra chocolate chips if you omit the nuts)

Preheat oven to 375F. Cream crisco, brown sugar, milk and vanilla flavoring together in a large bowl. Add egg and cream together.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt and baking soda.

Mix dry ingredients in with the butter/sugar mixture until well blended. Fold in chocolate chips.

Place by rounded tablespoon-fulls onto cookie sheet.

Bake at 375F until edges are golden brown, about 8-10 minutes.

Let the cookies set for a few minutes before removing them to cool on a paper towel or sheet of foil.

Just like all cookies, these are best eaten warm, so I like to just make a few at a time. You can store the cookie dough in the fridge for several days or in the freezer for several weeks. This is an easy way to have fresh cookies on hand to serve unexpected guests. Just remember the cookies may need to bake a bit longer since the dough started out cold!

This recipe is featured in Menu Plan 7.

Chocolate Fudge Pomegranate Cookies

I am obsessed with these cookies! The bursts of flavor in the pomegranate arils unexpectedly compliment the double chocolate cookies well. I found this recipe on How Sweet It Is and just had to try it. I am so glad I did!

I removed the arils from half the pomegranate using the method on this site and squeezed the juice out of the other half. Make sure to wear an apron to protect your clothes from any juice that may splatter and stain!

Chocolate Fudge Pomegranate Cookies

printable recipe 

1 cup butter, at room temperature (I used half butter, half crisco because all butter doesn't work well for me in my high-altitude location)

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour (add a couple of extra tablespoons for high-altitude)

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda (scant tsp for high-altitude)

1/4 tsp salt

2 Tbsp pomegranate juice

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 pomegranate arils 

Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until fluffy. Add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt, then pomegranate juice and mix until combined.

Fold in chocolate chips and arils. Refrigerate dough for 2-4 hours (or more). When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350, roll into balls and set on baking sheet.

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes before removing to cool completely on wax paper or foil.

 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have to make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies at least once twice every fall. Last year Nathan loved them so much he would cry every time I gave a bag of these away to friends, but with a recipe that makes 5 dozen there were always plenty to go around!

I have cut the recipe in half since then, so now the yield is about 2 1/2 dozen, but it is easily doubled if you need plenty of cookies! You can use whatever kind of baking chip you want, I personally prefer using chocolate chunks or semi-sweet chocolate chips. Today I tried white chocolate chips and they were good too!

This recipe is adapted from one I found by George Duran on the food network website.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

printable recipe 

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 large eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (add a couple of extra tablespoons if high altitude)

1 tsp baking soda (use a scant teaspoon if high altitude)

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 cup (6 oz) chocolate chips (semi-sweet, milk chocolate, white chocolate, or chocolate chunks)

Nonstick cooking spray or parchment paper

Heat the oven to 350F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper.

Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Beat in the egg then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds.

Fold in the chips.

Place the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets. 

Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on wire racks or a sheet of foil.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Spiral Cookies

I recently stumbled across an old Paula Deen magazine that I forgot I had. It is called Paula Deen's Chocolate Celebration and all the recipes contain - you guessed it - chocolate! Every recipe I have tried from it has been fantastic, I'm sure I will be sharing more to come.

Today I tried Chocolate Peanut Butter Spiral Cookies and they turned out so pretty. The flavor is great too. They are a crunchy cookie, perfect for dunking in milk, coffee, or hot chocolate.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Spiral Cookies

printable recipe 

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 Tbsp milk

3 cups plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour, divided

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 egg white, lightly beaten

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add egg and milk, beating until combined.

In a medium bowl, combine 3 cups flour, bakinig powder, and salt. Gradually add to butter mixture, beating until combined.

Divide dough in half. Add melted chocolate to half of dough, beating until combined. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 1 hour.

Add 2 Tbsp flour and peanut butter to other half of dough, beating until combined. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

On a lightly floured piece of parchment paper (I used wax paper), roll out chocolate dough into a 1/4-inch-thick (12x9-inch) rectangle. Brush with egg white.

On a separate piece of floured parchment, roll out peanut-butter dough into a 1/4-inch-thick (12x9-inch) rectangle. Invert peanut butter dough over chocolate dough, trimming edges to fit. Brush with egg white. Beginning at long end, roll dough, jelly-roll fashion, pressing edges to seal. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (I just sprayed them with cooking spray since I didn't have parchment paper).

Cut dough into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets, and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Let cool on pans for 2 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks. Store in airtight containers.