Super Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have a favorite chocolate chip cookie, recipe, but that doesn't mean I've stopped looking at new recipes. You never know when you'll find something new and amazing. Chocolate chip cookies are one of my all time favorites, who doesn't like them? My mom didn't do tons and tons of baking when I was growing up, but she always made the absolute best chocolate chip cookies. I don't even try to make her recipe anymore, they always taste better when she bakes them. She has her recipe, and I have mine.

When I saw the recipe for these soft and fluffy CC cookies though, I knew I wanted to try them. I usually prefer a super chewy, slightly crispy CC cookie, but there are times when I crave something soft and light. These cookies did the trick. They were so super soft and pillowy, not a bit of crispness, light and airy and delicious. The flavor was very mild and subdued, a gentle cookie. If you are looking for a chocolate chip cookie that just melts in your mouth, look no further.

These cookies are very simple, just a basic chocolate chip cookie. You start by creaming the butter and sugars, throw in the pudding mix, then add the eggs, and finish with the flour mixture. Nothing to it. You can whip a batch together in just a few minutes and have freshly baked cookies in less than half and hour. Just make sure you have some instant pudding in your pantry and you are good to go!

Cream the butter and sugars

Nice and fluffy

Add the pudding mix

Next it's the eggs and vanilla

Creamy!

Time for the flour

Mix until almost completely combined

Add the chocolate chips

Mix it all together

Scoop onto a baking sheet

Ready to eat

Super Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from: Kirbie's Cravings
Ingredients

• 2 1/3 cups (11.25 ounces) flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 3/4 cup (5.25 ounces) brown sugar
• 1/4 cup ( 1.75 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1 3.4-ounce package instant vanilla pudding
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt, set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and mix until almost completely incorporated, then add the chocolate chips, folding them in by hand until evenly incorporated. 

Scoop cookie dough onto baking sheet (I used a 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop) and bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, until the edges just begin to brown. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. 

Crunchy Granola Bars

Up until a few months ago I was going through box after box of Nature Valley granola bars. They are my favorite, crunchy and sweet, and not fake tasting like so many granola bars out there. Looking at the ingredients list didn't make me feel too bad. Although they are loaded with sugar, they contain mostly natural ingredients which is nice to see. However, it was my goal to make a homemade version that could compete with the crunchy goodness of the store bought kind. Over several months time I tried several granola bar recipes, but none of them would turn out how I wanted them to. They would either fall apart and turn into granola instead of a granola bar, or they were so hard I could hardly cut them, much less take a bite. These attempts were often not the best tasting either. Finally however, I found a recipe that looked promising. It originally came from America's Test Kitchen which made me even more excited. Their recipes almost always turn out great. These granola bars were no exception. They are crunchy and sweet, strong enough to hold up in my lunch box, but not so hard that they break a tooth. They are exactly what I was looking for.

It's a simple recipe that uses ingredients I almost always have on hand. To ensure that these bars are super crunchy, the recipe calls for toasting the oats with oil before forming the bars. I think this is the key step. One of the most difficult parts about making homemade granola bars is cooking them enough so that they get dried out all the way through, but not so long that they start over cooking. Toasting the oats first means that the bars start out dry and crispy, so they don't need to cook as long and start overcooking.

After toasting the oats, all you have to do is pour the liquid ingredients over them, mix it up, and press it in a lined pan. Press down to squish all of the granola together into an even layer, and bake. Nothing to it. I like these bars the best with almonds, but when I made my last batch I was out of almonds, so I just added an extra cup of oats and they turned out just fine. So if you don't have any nuts around, or don't like nuts, just leave them out!

Another key step to making the perfect granola bars is cutting them while they are still warm from the oven, before they harden up and become impossible to cut nicely. I have found that letting the pan rest for 10 minutes works best for me. After these 10 minutes I grab my trusty pastry scraper and cut up the bars (I like cutting the pan into 45 bars, 9X5). Then just let them cool the rest of the way and you have the perfect granola bar.

To be honest, while these bars are delicious, they do not taste like the Nature Valley crunchy granola bars. I still love my Oats and Honey granola bars, but they will definitely just be for emergencies from now on!

Grab your oats

Add the oil and salt and mix to combine

Toast them on a cookie sheet until golden brown

Meanwhile, grab some honey

and combine it with the brown sugar

Cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves

Add the cinnamon (if using) and the vanilla

Pour the liquid mixture over the oats, if using nuts add them here as well

Spread the granola on a greased, foil lined sheet pan and use a spatula to press into a tight, even layer

Bake!

Let the granola cool for about 10 minutes and then cut them up into bars (don't wait any longer than 15 minutes to cut or it will be too hard)

Once cut, let them cool the rest of the way

Break up the bars

Enjoy as many ways as possible!

Crunchy Granola Bars
Adapted from Bakerlady, originally from America's Test Kitchen
Ingredients

• 7 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups whole almonds, pecans, walnuts or peanuts 
• 3/4 cup honey
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (optional)

Directions
Adjust oven rack to the middle of the oven and set the temperature to 375 degrees.

Line an 18 x 13 inch rimmed baking pan with aluminum foil.

Combine the oats, oil and salt in a large bowl and mix until the oats are evenly coated. Transfer the mixture to the baking sheet and spread into an even layer. Bake, stirring every 10 minutes, until pale gold, 20-25 minutes. Remove the oats and lower the oven temp to 300 degrees.

Place the nuts in a food processor and process until coarsely chopped. Or just chop coarsely with a big sharp knife.

Combine the honey and brown sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and cinnamon (if using).

Combine the oats, nuts, and honey mixture in a large bowl and stir with a large rubber spatula until the oats are thoroughly coated with the honey mixture. Spray the baking sheet (still with foil sling) with non-stick spray then transfer the granola mixture to the prepared baking sheet and spread in an even layer. Spray a large metal spatula or a square dish with non-stick spray and firmly press the mixture into the pan. Make a flat, tight, and even layer. Bake until golden, about 35-40 minutes.

Cool in the baking sheet, on a wire rack, for 10-15 minutes before cutting into bars, I used a pastry scraper to cut.  Cut the bars all the way through and then allow the granola bars to completely cool. Do not wait longer than 15 minutes before cutting the bars. They harden up significantly as they cool. Any longer and you’ll have a very hard time cutting thru them.

The bars can be stored, covered for up to 2 weeks.

Gooey Cream Cheese Butter Cookies

When I heard these cookies described as being somewhat like baked cream cheese frosting I was sold. A cookie dough lover's cookie at its finest? Yes please, now please. Since I also happened to have a block of cream cheese sitting in the back of my fridge, just begging me to do something with it, I knew it was meant to be. It's funny how there are some recipes you come across that you just cannot pass up. They must be made and they must be made soon, today if possible. This was one of those recipes.

These cookies lived up to their name and description. They were pillows of buttery, cream cheesy goodness, super soft and full of vanilla goodness. They were as light as air, almost seeming under baked in the center, reminiscent of cream cheese frosting. The cream cheese flavor really came through, so if you aren't a big fan these probably aren't for you, but since that isn't a problem for me I thought they were fantastic. I like pretty much everything under baked; cookies, cinnamon rolls, brownies, hey, I even like my steak as rare as possible, so this recipe was perfect for me, it's meant to at least seem like it is under baked.

The recipe was a simple one, all you need are the basics along with cream cheese. It calls for a vanilla bean but if you don't have one I'm sure they will still turn out amazing. The next time I make these I think I will try the addition of some mini chocolate chips, chocolate makes everything better, right?

Butter, sugar, cream cheese and vanilla bean

Beat until nice and fluffy

Add the egg

Mmm...creamy

After adding the flour mixture

Shaped, covered in powdered sugar and ready to bake

The finished product

Try to let them cool at least a little before eating, if you can handle it that is

Gooey Cream Cheese Butter Cookies
From  See You In The Morning
Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick butter
• 1/4 - 1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped (optional but wonderful!)
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• powdered sugar for rolling and dusting

Directions
Stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt, set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese, butter, vanilla bean seeds, and sugar together until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract, beating until combined. Add in the flour mixture, stirring until just combined. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 325. Shape the dough into roughly 1 ounce balls and toss in the confectioner's sugar, rolling around to coat. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake until they spread and puff slightly, about 12-16 minutes. They will be really soft in the center. If they start to brown, they've gone too far. Cool to room temperature.

*refrigerate and serve cookies cold out of the refrigerator...these cookies are said to taste much better cold than warm.

Christmas Cookies 2011

I absolutely love the Christmas season! It is basically over now so I'm a little sad. The Christmas music has for the most part stopped, and I saw three trees on the side of the road last night ready for the garbage pickup. Posting these pictures is therefore making me happy, remembering the fun and excitement I felt last week when I was preparing for the parties ahead.

Christmas cookies have become a fun tradition in my house, every year my sister and I try something different. Each year the cookies get a little better as we learn more about how best to decorate them. This year is the second year we've tried royal icing for our Christmas cookies. It isn't the most flavorful icing, but it produces the best looking cookies in my opinion. I love the smooth shiny finish the cookies get, and I love how the icing hardens up completely so you don't have to worry about wrecking your labor intensive decorations.

Lara and I made two batches of cookies this year. For one of the batches we invited our cousin Bailey over to help decorate. We had a lot of fun trying all sorts of different designs. Some turned out really cool, and some not so much, but that's part of the fun. The second batch was all Lara. She spent a long time looking at different cookie designs all over the web and finally decided on two she wanted to try. I had nothing to do with this batch, it was all her. I just took the pictures. I love how they turned out, I think she did a fantastic job! It was a lot of fun, I can't wait until next year to do it all over again!

The dough, ready for rolling

New trick this year, roll the dough out between

two sheets of plastic wrap, it worked beautifully, 

no sticking and no need to use extra flour, making the 

cookie dense and tough

All rolled out and ready to cut

Circles and diamonds for this batch

Put the cut out dough on cookie sheets and refrigerate 

for 5-10 minutes to firm them up 

(so they don't spread as much during baking)

Cookies and icing all ready to go

Some of the creations

Swirls!

We did them all!

Lara's batch, first the trees

Then the bells

Piping a border

Aren't they cute?

Now for the trees

Ready for filling

Adding the dots while the green is still wet

Time to dry

The finished bells!

Add a gold garland and the trees are finished too

I liked the trees the best!

All done for another year :( 

Check out  Christmas Cookies 2012 for more great ideas

Vanilla Almond Sugar Cookies
From: Bake at 350
Ingredients

• 3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 sticks salted butter, cold
• 1 egg
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

Directions
Combine the flour and baking powder, set aside. Cream the sugar and butter. Add the egg and extracts and mix. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl. The dough will be crumbly, so knead it together with your hands as you scoop it out of the bowl for rolling

Roll out between two pieces of plastic wrap and cut into shapes. Place on parchment lined baking sheets. Put the unbaked cookies in the fridge or freezer for 5-10 minutes. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. Let sit a few minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Royal Icing
From sweetopia
Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 kilogram (2.25 lbs.) powdered icing sugar 

*** Note; if your meringue powder has no vanilla flavour (vanillin powder) in it, add a teaspoon of clear vanilla to this recipe

Directions
In mixer bowl, pour in the warm water and the meringue powder. Mix it with a whisk by hand until it is frothy and thickened…about 30 seconds. Add the cream of tartar and mix for 30 seconds more.

Pour in all the icing sugar at once and place the bowl on the mixer. Using the paddle attachment on the lowest speed, mix slowly for a full 10 minutes. Icing will get thick and creamy.

Cover the bowl with a dampened tea-towel to prevent crusting and drying.

Tint with food colourings or thin the icing with small amounts of warm water to reach the desired consistency.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

I took my third exam of the semester yesterday. That means I've now had one test in each class. It's nice to have that out of the way. No more wondering what the tests will be like. But because of this test, I missed out on the most beautiful weekend of the fall. It was in the upper 70s and low 80s all weekend, sunny and gorgeous. The trees are starting to change colors and I was stuck inside for almost all of it, bent over my notes, trying to learn as much pathophysiology as I could. But because I couldn't study all weekend, I managed to whip up a batch of these decadent double chocolate chip cookies. They helped, at least slightly, make up for missing the weekend. If you can't enjoy the weather, you mind as well eat chocolate!

Although I love a good chocolate chip cookie, if I'm in the mood for even more chocolate, these cookies come to mind. If you're looking for a chocolate fix, these are the cookies for you. Chocolate on chocolate; sweet, intensely chocolate and slightly salty. Your mouth will cry out for a glass of ice cold milk after just one bite. But don't take my word for it, whip up a batch and see for yourself.

Yes please!

Getting everything together

My favorite

All set to go

What a beautiful day, sun streaming in the window

Chocolate is melted

Butter, ready to be creamed

Nice and fluffy

Add that chocolate

Mixed, yum

Chocolate chips folded in, ready to bake

Scoop onto a cookie sheet

Baked!

Now all I need is a glass of milk...

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from The Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread
Ingredients

• 1 5/8 cup (236 gram) flour
• 3/8 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup butter
• 1/2 cup (120 grams) brown sugar (dark if you have it)
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup toasted pecans (optional in my opinion, I omitted them and added more chocolate chips)

Directions
In a large bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt and whisk together. In a separate bowl, melt 1 1/2 cups (284 grams) of the chocolate chips in the microwave at 30 second intervals. Stir them to make them smooth, then set aside to cool.

In the bowl of a electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about two minutes, scraping down the side of the bowl frequently. Pour in the melted chocolate (it should be pourable, but not hot, or the butter will melt) and continue mixing until the mixture is uniform in color. Gradually add the eggs and the vanilla, mixing until everything is well combined.

With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in stages. Mix only until everything is well combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl frequently. there should not be any pockets of dry flour left in the dough. Add the remaining chocolate chips and pecans (if using), and use a spatula or wooded spoon to fold the chocolate chips and nuts in by hand. Chill the dough in the refrigerator until it is firm, but not hard.

Place scoops of cookie dough on a parchment lined baking sheet. (They recommend making each ball 90 grams, or a scant half cup, but there is no way I am going to eat a cookie that big. I just used my 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop.) Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 13-14 minutes (or 18-20 minutes if you make the behemoth cookies) until just set, the middle should still be soft, and they make look slightly underdone. Do not over bake. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

Almond White Chocolate Biscotti

While I'm usually more of a soft and chewy cookie kind of girl, there are times when a crunchy and hard cookie is just what I need. This was the case not too long ago, and so I decided it was time to make some biscotti. Biscotti, that twice baked, crisp and crumbly cookie that is perfect for dipping in coffee, hot chocolate, or my personal favorite, milk. There are so many options when it comes to biscotti; they can be sweet or savory, filled with chocolate or nuts, dried fruit or cheese, really anything you can think of. I of course favor the sweet version, and this time I went with white chocolate and almonds, mostly because I had both of those things in the house. It was a delicious combination though, one I would make again. Because you bake biscotti twice, the whole process can take a while, but you are left with a lot of cookies in the end, and they last for a long time. If you don't think you like biscotti because you've only ever bought it pre-packaged at a coffee shop or at the store, try making it at home before you write it off completely; you might be surprised at how delicious it can be!

Cooled, drizzled and ready to eat

Slivered almonds, ready to go

White chocolate, chopped

Dry ingredients 

Add the beautiful eggs...

...and the butter, and start stirring

Once it starts to combine a little, use you hands to 

knead the dough until it all comes together

Done

Divide the dough in three balls

Shape them into 14 inch logs

Place the logs on a couple of cookie sheets

and flatten them slightly

First bake

Gotta let them cool for about 20 minutes

Then slice up into 1/2 inch cookies

Cutting on the diagonal 

Then place back on the cookie sheets to be baked again

Ready to go

Second bake

Beautiful golden brown

Drizzle with white chocolate and they're ready to eat

Almond White Chocolate Biscotti
From: Ultimate Italian, a Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publication
Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour 
• 1 1/2 cups sugar 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds 
• 1/2 cup finely chopped white chocolate 
• 2 eggs 
• 2 egg yolks 
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted 

Directions
Preheat oven to 325. Lightly grease two cookie sheets; set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder salt, almonds and chocolate. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Place eggs and egg yolks in the well and stir into the flour mixture. Add butter; stir until combined. (Dough will be crumbly.) Use your hands to knead dough until it comes together.

Divide dough into three equal portions. (If necessary, wrap dough in plastic wrap and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes or until evenly moistened.) On a lightly floured surface, shape each portion into a 14 inch long log, pinching dough as you roll, if necessary. Place logs about 3 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets; flatten logs slightly until about 1 1/2 inches wide. Bake about 25 minutes or until firm and light brown. Transfer cookie sheets to wire racks. Cool for 15 minutes.

Transfer logs to cutting board. Use a serrated knife to cut each log diagonally into 1/2 inch slices. Place slices, cut sides down, on cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn slices over Bake for 10 to 15 minutes more or until crisp, golden and dry. Cool.

Drizzle additional melted whit chocolate over cooled biscotti if desired.