Insanely Good Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup dark brown sugar 
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup uncooked rolled oats
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup caramel chips
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat until melted. Remove from the heat.

Add the dark brown sugar and granulated sugar and stir until sugars are incorporated and smooth. 

 

Chill the mixture for 10 minutes.

Remove from the refrigerator and stir in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.

Add the flour, oats, baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cinnamon and mix together.

Stir in the white chocolate chips and chocolate chips.

Roll by hand into 24 medium-size balls or use a scoop, and place on a light-colored cookie sheet.

Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Remove the cookies from the refrigerator and bake for 12 to 14 minutes.

Cookie Dough Cookies

Ingredients:

•  2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons non-fat powered milk
• 2 cups mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees. 

Mix butter and sugars for 1-2 minutes. 

Add egg and vanilla extract and mix for additional 2-3 minutes. 

Add remaining ingredients and mix for one minute. 

Line cooking sheets with wax paper

Scoop dough onto baking sheet using an ice cream scoop.   Flatten out cookies a bit with a firm press of the hand.

Cook for 3-4 minutes until the outside edges turn a brown color.   You might need to cook longer pending how well your oven heats up.  The goal is to still have the middle of the cookies somewhat like dough to have the cookie dough taste experience. 

 

Easy M&M Cookies

Ingredients:

2-1/2 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
1 cup (2 Sticks) Salted Butter, Softened
1-1/4 cup Packed Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
2 whole Eggs
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
2 Tablespoons Creamy Peanut Butter
2 Tablespoons Nutella
3/4 cups M&M's, Roughly Chopped

Directions:

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir together and set aside.

Cream together the butter with the sugars, scraping the bowl once while mixing. 

Add peanut butter and Nutella and mix. Add dry ingredients in increments, mixing gently after each addition. Scrape the bowl once and mix again.

Add M&M's and mix gently to combine.

Spoon dough on a long piece (or two shorter pieces) of waxed paper or plastic wrap. Carefully roll the dough inside the wrap, pressing gently to get it to form into a firm cylinder. Refrigerate for at least 3 to 4 hours or place into the freezer for 20-30 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice off as many cookies as you'd like and lay the slices on a baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until nice and golden brown.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bowls

Ingredients:

8 ounces butter, room temperature
4 ounces brown sugar
4 ounces white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 ounces flour (about a cup and a half)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Put the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, egg and vanilla extract into the bowl of a standing mixer.  Beat using the paddle attachment until all ingredients are incorporated. 

Remove the bowl from the stand, the add flour, salt and baking powder.  Return the bowl to the machine and paddle until the dough is formed.  Add the chocolate chips or roughly chopped chocolate and mix until the chocolate is evenly distributed.

This dough will make about two dozen delicious chocolate chip cookies, but if you want to make bowls, you’ll need two oven-proof dishes, one that fits inside another, for each chocolate chip cookie bowl.  Spray the inside of the larger one and the outside of the smaller one with vegetable oil (or butter them).  Press about 1/3 of a cup of the dough into each large bowl.  Press the smaller bowl on top of the dough firmly so that the dough begins to push up around its sides (expansion will take care of the rest).

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove the bowls from the oven and carefully twist the small bowls to free them from the dough (I used sturdy tongs), then remove it, and continue to bake the cookie bowls for 5 minutes of so until the inner bottom of the cookie bowl finishes cooking.

When the bowls are cool enough to handle, cut off any dough that’s over flowed the edge and, very carefully, run a pairing knife along the sides, gently lifting up to delicately free the bottom of the cookie bowl.  Chill completely.

Pinata Cookies

Ingredients:

 

1 cup sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
5 cups flour
1 tablespoon vanilla
Mini M&M candies
1/2 cup powdered sugar (frosting)
2 teaspoons milk (frosting)

Directions:

Cream sugars with butter. Beat in eggs. Add oil. Combine dry ingredients together, and then gradually add them to the mixture. Mix in vanilla and almond extract.

Split dough into five, even-sized balls and one smaller ball (this will be the black one). Add food coloring to each of the dough balls until desired color is achieved. Gel food coloring gives you more intense colors than liquid.

Use a container the same approximate width of your donkey/burro piñata cookie cutter, and line it with plastic food wrap. Split all of your colored dough balls in half (except the black) and begin layering the dough in the container, starting with the black dough on the bottom. Alternate the colors so that you end up with two layers of each color by the time you're done.

Cover the layered dough and freeze for four hours or overnight. This is the perfect time to conserve your creative juices for what lies ahead.

Remove the dough from the container and unwrap from the plastic. Cut slices, approximately 1/4-inch wide. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake them at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes.

Immediately after you take them out of the oven, use your burro piñata cookie cutter to cut the cookie shapes. Working in sets of three, be sure to cut two burro piñata cookies in one direction and one burro piñata cookie in the opposite direction. (Just flip your cookie cutter over.) That way, when you go to assemble them, the finished cookie will look "pretty" on both sides -- because the baked, bottom sides will be hidden.

For the middle cookies in each set, cut off the ears and legs, and cut out the center where the M&Ms will go. I used a small square cutter, and made three cuts to get a narrow rectangle. Try to work quickly, because as the cookies cool, they are more likely to crumble or break. Let them cool on the baking sheet before you move them and remove the excess, outer cookie.

To assemble, take the first piñata cookie and lay it upside down so that the baked bottom is facing up. Outline the center of the piñata body with a "frosting glue" mixture of milk and powdered sugar. (I used 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and two teaspoons of milk. If you put it inside a Ziploc bag and cut off a tiny tip of the bag's corner, you can pipe it onto the cookie easily.)
Put the middle cookie on top of the frosting glue and add the M&Ms to the open center. Put another outline of frosting glue on the middle cookie and place the opposite-cut piñata cookie on top (so that the pretty side is facing out). Let these sit and harden for at least 30 minutes before you stand them upright.

This recipe will make six to eight piñata cookies.

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

Ingredients:

2 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened (1 ¼ cups)
4 oz softened cream cheese
3 tsp. vanilla extract, divided
1 tsp. dry active yeast
1 cup granulated sugar
3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
½ cup brown sugar
1 ½ Tb. cinnamon
3 Tb. whole milk
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Mix 2 tsp. vanilla extract with 1 tsp. of dry active yeast.

Cream the butter, cream cheese, vanilla with yeast, and granulated sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy—2-3 minutes.

Turn the mixer on low. Add the salt, then slowly add the flour. Scrape the bowl and mix until well combined.

Press the dough into a flat disk. Wrap and refrigerate the dough for (at least) 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl.
Cut the dough in half and leave one half in the fridge while working with the first half.

Flour a piece of wax paper and roll the dough into a 7 X 18 inch rectangle that is approximately ¼ inch thick.

Sprinkle half the cinnamon sugar over the dough leaving 1 1/2 inches bare along the long edge. 

 

Starting on the cinnamon covered side, carefully roll the dough tightly toward the bare edge. You may want to cut the dough into two sections to make the rolling easier. *At this point, you can place the rolls back in the fridge and save for weeks if needed.

Press the seam firmly, then cut the roll into 1/3-1/2 inch slices and lay on parchment paper lined cookie sheets.

Repeat with the remaining dough and cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 9-12 minutes.

Cool completely. Then whisk the powdered sugar, milk and remaining vanilla extract together in a small bowl. Dip the face of each cookie into the glaze and set on a rack to dry.

Graham Cracker S’mores Cookies

Ingredients:

1. 1 package graham crackers, broken into squares
2. 2 ½ cups flour
3. 1 teaspoon baking soda
4. 1/2 teaspoon salt
5. 1 teaspoon cinnamon
6. 11 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
7. 1 cup brown sugar, packed
8. 1/2 cup granulated sugar
9. 2 large eggs, room temperature
10. 1 teaspoon vanilla
11. 1 (12 ounce) bag semi sweet chocolate chips
12. 1 cup mini marshmallows
13. 2 – 3 regular sized Hershey’s bars, broken into pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two rimmed cookie sheets with parchment paper. Lay out graham crackers side by side on the pans as close as possible (they should be touching).
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter with both sugars until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla.
4. Reduce the mixer to low speed and add the flour mixture, mixing until combined.
5. Fold in chips and marshmallows. Place tablespoons of dough on each graham cracker square. Press down slightly with fingertips.
6. Bake for 5 minutes then remove from oven to press Hershey’s bar pieces on to the top.
7. Return pans to the oven and bake for  5 to 7 more minutes or until dough is golden brown at the edges.  Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Raisin Cookies

Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup golden or regular raisins
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Directions
Preheat an oven to 350° and line 2 or 3 baking sheets (depending on how many you have) with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, vanilla and sugar. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time and blend until the batter looks creamy. With a wooden spoon, stir in the raisins then fold in the flour in thirds until a soft dough forms (add a tablespoon or two of additional flour if the batter is too runny).

Drop the dough by the heaping teaspoonful onto the parchment-lined sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart (the cookies spread as they bake). Bake in the oven until fragrant and golden at the edges, 15 to 18 minutes, switching pan positions halfway through if both sheets do not fit on the middle rack.

Remove from oven and pull the parchment sheet with the cookies attached right off the baking sheet and onto your counter. Let cookies cool on the parchment then arrange on a plate in the shape of a pyramid for a traditional presentation.

Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
8 tablespoons of salted butter, melted and cooled
6 tablespoons of creamy peanut butter, melted and cooled
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Add butter and peanut butter to a microwave safe bowl, and heat in 30 second increments until melted. Let cool completely.

Mix the flour and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, mix the cooled butter/peanut butter and sugars until they are combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and stir until mixed. Gradually add flour and mix until a dough forms – it will look crumbly at first, but it will come together. I even used my hands to bring it all together. If necessary, add 1-2 teaspoons of milk, but I did not need this. Fold in chocolate chips.

Shape the dough into a ball the size of a golf ball. Place on a baking sheet two inches apart and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown. The centers should be soft and puffy. Do not over bake.  Let cool completely.

Oreo Stuffed Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar (for a richer version, substitute more brown sugar)
2 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups oatmeal (old-fashioned)
Mini Oreos

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 °F.
Beat together butter and sugars until creamy and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla until well mixed.
Gradually add combined flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well.
Stir in oats by hand until combined.
Chill dough so that it can be more easily handled (about 30 mins should do it). Cover a single mini Oreo in chilled dough and roll into a ball.
Repeat with remaining dough and Oreos. Place each ball on an ungreased cookie sheet and press down lightly.
Bake 10-12 minutes or until slightly browned. Allow to cool slightly on cookie sheet before transferring to a clean countertop or wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen.

World's Best Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients:
 
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 eggs, slightly beaten
3 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixer, combine sugars; add in butter and cream together with the sugars. Add vanilla and eggs; mix together.

In a large mixing bowl, sift the dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Mix well; the dough will be stiff. Add the chocolate chips and nuts (if using).

Line the baking sheets with wax paper (parchment). Drop dough in 1" balls onto sheets. 

Bake for 10-15 minutes until brown. Remove from oven and cool.