Salted Toffee Brownie Cookies

Don’t make these cookies the way I did.  I know that sounds weird, but please heed my warning!  Actually, everything about this cookie was great except………I put WAY too much sea salt on them.  I forgot that sea salt is much saltier than normal table salt, hence do not overdo the salt on these cookies!! I beg of you.

Mix together the eggs, sugar and vanilla.

Dump in the melted chocolate and butter.

Lick the chocolate bowl when no one is looking.  I won’t tell!

Blend in the dry ingredients.

I used an ice cream scoop and then pressed the cookie batter down for even cooking.

Do you see the amount of salt on here?  Use half as much as this.  Trust me.  Mother knows best.

This brownie cookie is delightfully light and not very sweet.  I love the surprise crunch of the toffee chips too.  It really is a good balance between brownie and cookie.  The balance of salty and sweet however, was way off.  Hence the warning.

Salted Toffee Brownie Cookies

From Kitchenist

makes 24

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2/3 cup toffee bits
a few pinches sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 170°C/350°F. Melt chocolate and butter together, either in a small saucepan over the stove, on in a bowl in the microwave. Set aside.

2. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. In another bowl (or using a mixer), beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate/butter mixture and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and mix until combined. Stir in the toffee bits- batter will be very thick.
4. Drop heaping tablespoons of batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, about 1 to 2 inches apart. (These cookies will not spread much.) Sprinkle a small pinch of sea salt over the top of each cookie, and bake for 12 to 15 minutes. The tops of the cookies will be shiny, crackly and brown, like a brownie. Cool on a wire rack.

Oatmeal Scotchies

For those of us moms whose children go to school, the best conversations are had at drop off and pick up times.   You moms out there know what I mean, right?  Well, this cookie started as a conversation at school.  A mommy-friend, Jennifer said she just had the best cookie of her life, these oatmeal butterscotch cookies.

After weeks of prodding, I finally broke down and decided to give them a try.  The recipe is very easily found on the back of the Nestle butterscotch chips bag.  This was actually my first time ever buying and using butterscotch chips.

These cookies came out beautifully crunchy on the edges and chewy in the middle.  The smooth and toasty butter flavor paired well with the nutty oatmeal texture.

The only alteration I made to the recipe was using 2 1/2 cups of oatmeal instead of 3.

Give it a try and see if it sparks a conversation at your kids’ school!!

 

Oatmeal Scotchies

From Nestle Toll House

 

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ½  cups quick or old-fashioned oats

1 2/3 cups (11-oz. pkg.) butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats and morsels. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 7 to 8 minutes for chewy cookies or 9 to 10 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I mention in my About page that I am a staff advisor for a college student club.  Well, I was asked by my students to make some items for a bake sale to raise money for a homeless ministry that some students started.  The first thing I thought to make was these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

Why?

Because we all know how unhealthily college students eat, right?  I figured, if I could get some oats and fiber into these students, this would be the way to do it!

Sorry, it’s the mom in me.  I can’t help it!  I did add chocolate chips in there to make it go down easier.

I heard they were a hit, so I guess it worked.  Mission accomplished!

 

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 ½ cups light brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a large bowl beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs and vanilla in a mixer until well blended. In a medium bowl add flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon then mix with a whisk to combine. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture, stirring until just combined.

Fold in rolled oats and chocolate chips. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons about 2 inches apart onto a cookie sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 2 minutes and remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 3 dozen cookies with a #30 scoop.

Chocolate Dipped Fortune Cookies

I think a great way to jazz up anything is to dip it in chocolate!

If you are not the baking type, this would be a great solution to an easy Valentine’s gift.  This would be great for teachers, co-workers, or your sweetie (of course)!

I just unwrapped a bunch of fortune cookies, dipped them in some melted semi-sweet chocolate and sprinkled then with Valentine’s sprinkles.  Place them on parchment paper to dry and they’ll be ready in about 30 minutes.

You can get pretty creative with this idea.  You can use colored candy melts or use different colors or shapes of sprinkles.  The possibilities are endless.  This is also a fun one for kids to help you with.

Try them out this Valentine’s Day and I’m sure everyone will fall in love…………………………….with these cookies!

Madeleine Cookies

I must thank my friend Ryan, who is the reason behind these madeleines.  Let me explain.

I do not like unitasking tools – a kitchen gadget that is only good for one purpose.  Some examples are an avocado knife, waffle iron and the madeleine pan.

So, why do I have a madeleine pan, you are asking?

It was a gift from a generous friend.  Ryan asked if I’ve ever made these cookies before and I hadn’t.  I told him of my dislike of unitaskers, so he agreed to buy me a pan if I would make madeleines for him.  I thought that was a great deal………and so did he!

My new motto is: “Will Cook for Kitchen Gadgets”

A quick note about the plate: I found it at an estate sale in my neighborhood marked for 25 cents.  The two ladies selling it were arguing about how the price was marked incorrectly and should have been more.  But, they gave it to me for the sticker price anyway.  I got home and Googled it and found out that this Spode China, named “Chinese Rose” was worth about $20!!  Gotta love a bargain!

So, here we have four large eggs.

Beat them until they have doubled in volume.

Next, add sugar and continue beating until you get this ribbon consistency.  The whole idea behind this is that you want to incorporate lots of air into the batter to make these cookies light and fluffy.

Zest one large lemon.  This is a meyer lemon from my backyard, but you can use a regular lemon.

Sift the flour into the batter and fold it in with your spatula, making sure not to stir.  Folding minimizes the air loss in the batter.

After I took this picture, I strained the butter through a paper towel, so that the butter solids stay out of the batter.

Here are these delectable cookies.

But, this is not the pretty side……..

THIS is!!!

I just love the golden brown color.  The shape is so unique too.  My first bite was heaven!  I could hear my teeth bite through the crunchy edges and next I tasted the butter.  As I started to chew, the subtle lemon flavor hit my tongue. The texture is also light and fluffy, the air trapped in the batter sure did its job.

These would be lovely to share with a friend over a cup o’ tea!!

Or, you can just shove them in your mouth while standing over the sink…………..what?!

Madeleines

Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (6 ounces)
cooking spray
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
a pinch of salt
2/3 cups sugar
zest of one large lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

a bit of extra flour for dusting baking pan

Special equipment: A madeleine baking pan, regular or small

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt the 1 1/2 sticks of butter in a small pot over medium heat until it’s brown and gives off a deliciously nutty aroma, roughly 20 minutes. Strain (using a paper towel over a mesh strainer) – you want to leave the solids behind. Cool the butter to room temperature. By doing the butter first you can complete the rest of the steps while it is cooling.

While the melted butter is cooling, to grease the madeleine molds – get in there and make sure you get in all the ridges. Dust with flour and invert the pan tapping out any excess flour, or you can skip this process if you have a nonstick pan.

Put the eggs with the salt in the bowl of an electric mixer with a whisk attachment. Whip on high speed until thick – you are looking for the eggs to roughly double or triple in volume – approximately 3 minutes. Continuing to mix on high speed, slowly add the sugar in a steady stream. Whip for 2 minutes or until mixture is thick and ribbony. Now with a spatula, fold in the lemon zest and vanilla (just until mixed).

Sift the flour on top of the egg batter, and gently fold in. Now fold in the butter mixture, only stirring enough to bring everything together.

Spoon the batter into the molds, filling each mold 2/3 full.

Bake the madeleines for 12 – 14 minutes (7-10 minutes for smaller cookies), or until the edges of the madeleines are golden brown. Remove from oven and unmold immediately. Cool on racks and dust with powdered sugar.

Makes 2 -3 dozen regular madeleines.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

This one of my favorite go-to recipes when I need a quick chocolate fix. I’ve made this recipe in a small bite-sized cookie (#70 scoop) and then a regular size (#30 scoop) as well.  Either way they both give the same result, rich, chocolatey, chewy goodness! I really like the addition of the oats, which is where this cookie gets its chewiness.

When I make the bite-sized cookie, I use the mini morsels chocolate chips.  It just gives a better cookie-to-chocolate chip ratio. I’m all about finding the perfect balance of a cookie. It’s all about the balance!!

And look at the picture, the cookies are balancing perfectly on top of each other too. It’s a win-win all around.

 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

from bakingbites.com

2 cups all purpose flour
½ cup quick cooking oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup white sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F and line a few baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Blend in vanilla extract and egg. Slowly add in the flour mixture until nearly combined. Add in chocolate chips and stir until dough is uniform in color and chip distribution.
Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets.
Bake at 350F for 11-13 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 40 cookies.

Chocolate Dipped Butter Cookie

 

If you read my Homemade Samoa Cookies post, then the shape of these cookies might look familiar.  These are actually leftover cookies from that baking project.  I love using chocolate to doll up anything.  Whenever I’m using melted chocolate of any kind and there’s some leftover, I raid my pantry to see what I can dip in chocolate.  I’ve dipped nuts, raisins, dried cranberries, pretzels……..you get the idea! Some of the best recipes come from trying to be frugal and use leftovers.  Did you know that’s how fried rice was invented?  Once again, gotta love the Chinese!

 

Chocolate Dipped Butter Cookies

1 cup butter, soft

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

up to 2 tbsp milk

1 cup chocolate chips or melting chocolate

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.

Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky (it’s possible you might not need to add milk at all).

The dough should come together into a soft, not-too-sticky ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough is very sticky.

Roll the dough (working in two or three batches) out between pieces of wax paper to about 1/4-inch thickness and use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds.

Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and use a knife, or the end of a wide straw, to cut a smaller center hole.

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set.

Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Melt chocolate chips in microwave in a bowl at 30 second intervals, stirring in between.  Dip cooled cookies halfway into your bowl and place on wax paper to dry.  Spoon remaining chocolate into a piping bag or sandwich bag with a tiny corner cut off. Drizzle chocolate over cookies.

 

Brownie Cookies

 

These are probably the most delicate cookies I’ve ever had.  And, I don’t mean delicate in flavor.  The flavor’s amazing! They’re physically very crumbly and light, but that’s also why they’re so attractive.  They have the taste of a brownie, without being too overpowering in the chocolate department.  This brownie cookie hybrid melts in your mouth and it really doesn’t take many chews before you noticed you’ve consumed the whole thing.

I kind of think that two of these cookies is the equivalent of one brownie, in size and thickness.  According to that logic, I can have 4 cookies easily, because really that’s only 2 brownies, right?  Like the way I did the math there?  When I was a teacher, I taught multiplication using Hershey’s milk chocolate bars.  I’m beginning to think that integrating chocolate into math is not a bad thing!

 

Brownie  Cookies

adapted from browneyedbaker.com

2 2/3 cups (about 16 ounces) bittersweet chocolate, chopped

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 eggs

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper of a silicone baking mat.

Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set it over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally, until completely melted and smooth.  You could also use the microwave here.

In the meantime, stir together the eggs, vanilla and sugar in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder.

Add the melted chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and stir to combine well. Slowly add the dry ingredients, folding them into the batter. Once all of the flour is incorporated, stir in the chocolate chips.

Wait for batter to harden in refrigerator 15 minutes, then scoop 1½ tablespoons of dough (#30 cookie scoop) onto prepared (with parchment paper) baking sheets. Bake for 12 minutes or until they are firm on the outside. Like brownies, do not overbake! Leave to cool completely on the baking sheets.

Makes 24 large cookies

 

Cranberry White Chip Oatmeal Cookie

 

I love making this cookie around Christmas time, mostly because of the beautiful holiday colors.  That’s not to say they aren’t good any time of year too.  I make this when I’m tired of chocolate chip cookies.  “Tired of chocolate chip cookies, are you crazy?!” you say? Yes, it is possible.

Cranberries are my favorite dried fruit to use in baking.  Red is my favorite color, so I guess that would make sense. The real reason is that cranberries have such a great sour sweet flavor.  It reminds me of eating sour tart candies as a kid, except these are actually good for you.  And what’s even more fun is that a raw cranberry actually bounces, like a ball, which also reminds me of childhood. Oh………the good ol’ days!!

 

Cranberry White Chip Oatmeal Cookie

¾ cup softened butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

½ cup sugar

1 ½ cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

½ cup crisp rice cereal

½ cup white vanilla chips

½ cup sweetened dried cranberries

½ cup rolled oats

 

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a stand mixer, combine butter, vanilla and egg; beat well.  Add both sugars and combine until smooth. Add flour, baking powder and salt a little at a time.  When incorporated, add cereal, vanilla chips, cranberries and oats.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto sprayed cookie sheets.

Bake for 9-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown.  Cool 1 minute.  Remove from cookie sheets.

 

 

Homemade Samoa Cookies

I’m calling a spade a spade.  These cookies took SOOOOOOO long to make!  The taste was worth the time and effort, but let me just say this…..I haven’t made them a second time, so enjoy this picture.  It will probably be the last one of its kind coming from me.

Have I scared you enough?  I’m sorry.  I’m just trying to be a good friend and warn you to carve out a chunk of time from your schedule to take these bad boys on.

The only redeeming thing about this recipe is that there is a cheater way to make these cookies and they taste the same. They are in the form of a cookie bar.  Obviously, I didn’t read closely enough before I started my saga of baking the day I made these.

So, learn from me.  Take the easy way out.  No one will blame you.  They’ll taste just as great!

 

Roll out your dough and use your cookie cutter to make the cookie shapes.

Or, you can be like me and use a shot glass and a straw.  Seriously, that’s what I used.

Don’t ask me why we have a shot glass in the house.  I’m not even sure how it got here.  That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!

The best part was blowing the cookie holes out of the straw.  See the straw on the the top right corner of the picture?  I told you!

 

 

Lay them on parchment and bake away.

 

 

Take them out and let them cool.  Meanwhile, work on your topping.

 

 

Toast the sweetened coconut flakes, making sure to toss them around a bit for even toasting.

 

 

Melt the caramel squares.

 

 

Throw in the coconut and mix it all together.  You may want to keep the pot on a very very low heat to keep this warm.  Once the topping hardens, it’s almost impossible to get it on the cookie.

 

 

Now the chocolate application.  Dip the bottoms into the melted chocolate first, then go to town on the drizzling!

Yes, like I said it was  a lot of work, but if you are a coconut or chocolate lover OR a coconut and chocolate lover, then it will be all worth it for you!!

 

Homemade Samoas

from bakingbites.com

Cookies
1 cup butter, soft
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
up to 2 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.

Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky (it’s possible you might not need to add milk at all).

The dough should come together into a soft, not-too-sticky ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough is very sticky.
Roll the dough (working in two or three batches) out between pieces of wax paper to about 1/4-inch thickness (or slightly less) and use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds.

Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and use a knife, or the end of a wide straw, to cut a smaller center hole.

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set.

Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

Topping
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
8 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)

Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.
Using the spatula or a small offset spatula, spread topping on cooled cookies, using about 2-3 tsp per cookie. Reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it gets too firm to work with.

While topping sets up, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals. Dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle finished cookies with chocolate.
Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.