Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Have I mentioned I love chocolate chip cookies.  I have been good about not doing too much baking lately but one of the girls at work made some this week.  I was good and I only had two.  But then I wanted more.  Then I joined Pinterest and found a pin that lead me to this link here.  It was all down hill from there.  These are mildly adapted from this recipe.

I know I have my recipe for Triple Chippers in here and they will always be my first love but not everyone like the sweet and salty like I do, so I had to try these.  These are pretty darn good.  Good enought that I made 2 1/2 dozen this morning, gave a dozen away and all that is left is the picture you see above.  I went out to take a picture and they were all that was left.  And I think that if Rob and Nik were still home, I might have not even had those left to take a picture of.  HA  That means that Rob, Nik and I had 1 1/2 dozen between the three of us.  Ummmmmmmm not good..   Well really good actually.  That is the problem.

So like I said it is mildly adapted from the website above. I usually try to go with the original recipe but this one needed a couple things and a couple of things I just like better.  So here it is.

Ingredients
Makes 2 1/2 dozen
3/4 cup salted butter, cut into chunks or already softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract (or just two vanilla like the original calls for)
2 cups flour
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups (or one bag) semi or bitter sweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

I never remember to take the butter out of the fridge so I just cut it up into chunks into the KitchenAide and let it sit for 10 minutes and then beat it until it is smooth, then add the sugars and cream them together.  Add the egg and extracts and mix until incorporated.

Dump in the rest of the dry ingredients and mix.  Add the chips and scoop out onto your stoneware!  I used my Pampered Chef medium size cookie scoop.

Bake for 10-12 minutes on the lowest rack in your oven.   Take out and leave the cookies on the sheets for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

These would be good to make into ice cream sandwich cookies.  They are nice and thick and dont lose their shape.  They are chewy without being fall aparty.  So very delish!  And unlike Triple chippers they are not crunchy, which I like my chocolate chip cookies to be sometimes.  This gives me some variety.  You know.. that spice of life thing!

Happy Baking.

Chocolate Chunk Chile Mango Cookies

Big Name for a Huge Flavor.  I was sitting innocently at lunch last week and was checking my email and Rob sent me a Facebook link to a Trader Joes site where they use TJ items and make yummy things like this.  I started planning my TJ trip at lunch that day.  After class that night I went and got the chocolate and the mango.  And it sat on the counter until last night.. 5 long nights it sat and stared at me…. begging me to bake them. 

I of course made the mistake of adding to my recipe builder on Weight Watchers.  Not good.  Not good at all.  If they worked out according to the recipe and the amount you were supposed to get.. it would be 4 points per cookie!!  4!! for each cookie.  Undaunted, I knew they needed to be made.  It was something that I had to do.  I mean.. fruit, chocolate, and chili.. what more could be said. 

So last night I got the help of my twin monkeys…  you remember these two right?

and we went to work making these cookies as is.   Somethings I will tweak so I can have them more often but I am trying to not do that with sweet things.  I need to cut back on my sweet tooth.  It is why I am on WW and why it is hard for me to lose it.  So I will make these as a treat, and only infrequently!  The rest of these will go to work tomorrow.. well the few that are remaining.  I have had half my daily points today in just cookies.   Not good!!

In my defense, we had to rush Rob to the ER last while I was making said cookies.  He had a fever and with cancer, that is a bad thing, so his oncologist said get him in to the ER.  The kids had to bake the last two pans..  and my nerves have been shot ever since waiting for the labs to come back.   

Ingredients
6 oz of dark chocolate  (on the TJ bar shown I used 15 squares)
1 bag of chile mangos (if you don’t like spicy you could use 8 oz of dried mango)
1 cup softened butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp hot water
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups flour

Cast of characters

Next step is to set the boys/men up to do some heavy chopping.  Nik to dice up the mango and Aaron to chunk up the chocolate.  

At first I was annoyed that the chocolate was splintering and not chunking nicely but once the cookie cooked it was nice to have a little nugget or sliver here and there throughout the cookie. 

While those are being chopped and diced, cream the butter and sugars.

This is what your chocolate and mango will look like..   a bowl of spicy heaven..

Add the salt, vanilla and eggs and mix to incorporate.

Add the baking soda to the hot water and then add to the mixer along with the flour.

Mix 5-6 turns or until about 1/2 way mixed, scrap down your side and then add the mango and chocolate.

Mix until incorporated. 

Drop by spoonful onto a parchment lined cookie sheet or use your well-loved Pampered Chef stoneware.. lol  As you can see ours are well used.  I love how I can cook anything on them and the flavors dont mix.

And the finished product.. ready for a nice study break…..

I have to say, I really liked these cookies.  The mango has a sweetness that works so well with chocolate and the spiciness is just an added bonus.  I can say I would love these without the spicy mango (meaning just dried mango) and other than being a bit crisper than I normally like, these are so rich and flavorful I will be adding these to The Box.   I think I might work to make them a bit less crunchy though. These would be amazing with a bit more chewiness to them.   

Oh and in the end it made 80 cookies, so I corrected it in my WW recipe thing and for 2 cookies it is 5 points.. that was a bit better!!  Enjoy!

Happy Baking!!

Snickerdoodles

So this year we had a cookie swap at work.  It was so much fun.  I love making things and sharing them with friends.  This one was great because so many had participate.  I was particularly excited to see listed Snickerdoodles!  I love them, my family loves them and most of all my mother loves them.  I had a recipe but it didnt wow me.  THis one did.   We always get the recipes and my friend Lilly is the one who made these.  YUMMO  I doubled the recipe and it made for slightly crispier cookie.  The taste is great but if you like them a bit chewier, dont double, make two batches. 

Ingredients
Yield about 4 1/2 dozen

1 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
Cinnamon and sugar

Preheat oven to 350.  Cream butter, sugar and eggs thoroughly in a large bowl.

Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a seperate bowl.

Blend dry ingredients into the butter mixture, making a stiff dough.. chill for 20 minutes.

Make a sugar mixture of equal parts sugar and cinnamon.  I always start off with a little cause you can make more.  Form into 1 inch balls and roll into your sugar mixure.

Place on your PC stoneware or a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Bake for 10-13minutes depending onyour stove and your desired softness.  

These will have to be hidden if you want them for an event, or made the day before cause they are addictive!   I had to hide them… cause they kept disappearing on me!  I wont say who but they were born in 1993!!  you do the math..

Happy  Baking!!!!

Fresh Ginger Iced Ginger Snaps

These things are totally to die for.  I had to take the rest in to work they were killing me. I must have eaten 10 the first day I made them.  Simple ingredients and simple techniques are sometimes the best and easiest thing to do.  

I took my basic gingersnap recipe.  I love this recipe, they are soft or crispy depending on how long you keep them in the oven.  I like them soft when iced.  The icing is just a little confectioners sugar, some milk, dash of salr and fresh grated ginger to taste… strongly flavored and slightly sweet, the icing hardens and wonderfully contrasts the softness of the cookie!

Ingredients
1 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup shortening
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp allspice
2-3 tbsp ground ginger (yes tablespoons)
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup milk

Icing
2 cups confectioners sugar
3 tbsp fresh grated ginger with the juice it produces from grating
pinch kosher salt
milk (this is to a certain consistency so humidity and all that effects it)

Preheat oven to 350. Cream sugar, salt and shortening.  Add egg and blend in.  In a seperate bowl mix together the dry  ingredients to get them blended together.  Add half the dry ingredients, then the milk and then the last of the dry mixing lightly between each addition. 

Drop by rounded tsp fulls onto a stoneware or parchment lined sheet.  
Bake until set.  Again this is a personal preference.  I dont even have a specific time written down on my recipe card.  I would say it was 10-12 minutes for soft, 15-18 for crisper. 
Make the icing by mixing the ingredients until you get the desired consistency.   Then frost the cooled cookies!

Then try your best to not eat them…. they are truly evil!   Do you see how they called to me.. that one in the bottom left corner was screaming to me…..

so i ate it!!

Happy baking!

Shortbread/ Jam Thumbrints

Rob loves shortbread.  I mean loves it.  We had searched high and low for a recipe that he would love enough for us to put it in “The Box”.  Only recipes that we really like make it to “The Box”.   There are certain foods that we want to have one go-to recipe for and shortbread was on the list.  We found it.  This shortbread is light and buttery.  Soft but with crispy edges.  As Rob says.. the best of both worlds!! 
One of the fun things about this particular recipe is that you can make Jam Thumbprints out of them as well.  Roll in a ball and shove your thumb making a little well for a dollop of jam.  Easy peasy, quick and easy!

Ingredients
3 sticks of butter
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp extract, it calls for vanilla but we are going to try almond as well
3 1/2 cups of flour
1/4 tsp kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350.  Cream together the butter and sugar, then add in the extract, then the flour and mix together until smooth.

Then you can decide what to do.. you can make it into a large cookie….

Make it into balls and squish them into bite sized cookies…..

Or you can make balls, and shove a thumb in and fill it with your favorite jam.  Here we have kiwi jam, strawberry rhubarb habanero and….. garlic jam.  Which is Robs favorite.

The finished product is light, soft and yummy….

Hope you like these..

Happy Baking!
Kim

Grammies Hermits

This is one of Robbies favorite cookies that his Grammie Reynolds used to make.  He didnt like them until he was about 14 and now he makes them 1-2 a month.  They are a wonderful mix of rich dark molasses and soft sweet raisins.  The batter works for individual cookies or in the way that we make them, bar form.   Lately Rob has been thinking alot about her.  She passed a couple years ago and he is finally able to really start making some of the things that remind him of her.  He was so proud the first time I came home from work and he had made these.  I didnt take too many pictures but you can get the gist of how they work.  HAHA

Ingredients

4 beaten eggs
2 cups raisins
3/4 cup crisco
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp each, cinnamon and cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 cup molasses
1/8 cup water

Preheat the oven to 350.  In a medium bowl mix the raisins and the eggs and sit aside for atleast 15 minutes (this is what makes the raisins so soft and yummy). 

Cream the butter and sugars and then add the egg mixture and then the flour and beat on low until a stiff batter forms.

Then get a helper to pour it into your large cookie sheet/stoneware (or drop by spoonful for cookies) and bake for 15-20 minutes.  Serve with milk or my favorite, a cup of coffee..

I love family and being able to make a multigenerational recipe with the kids is so much fun.  We had a blast today, making 10 different types of things.  The boys helped with everything, whether it was doing the dishes or stirring the ginger icing or watching the  thermometer for english toffee.   I am so thankful for my family.

Happy Baking

Kim

Christmas Cookies Part 1- Triple Chippers!

These are one of my favorite cookies.  Rob got it from a cookbook and we have adapted it to fit our tastes and what we like in a cookie.  I dont want to ruin the surprise for you so you will have to just read the ingredients list.

Triple Chippers

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
3/4 cup butter, room temp
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar firmly packed
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups coarsely crushed wavy or rippled potato chips (yes potato chips)
2 cups of chocolate chips (we do 2/3 c of  white chocolate and the rest semi sweet)

YES Potato chips!!   You really did read that right. 

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together the dry ingredients in seperate bowl, this is important for texture.  Cream the butter and sugars, add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Add all the three types of chips and mix until dough-ey.   Rob just mixes them with the Kitchenaid.  Since you dont mind if they chips get crushed.  HAHA

Using a cookie scoop put onto your cookie sheet and bake for 12 -15 minutes depending on the size of our scoop.  

Cool and enjoy.  So sweet and salty and yummy!! 

Stay tuned.. it is Christmas cookie time.. so lots of new recipes in the next couple days.

Happy Cooking

Kim