A new challenge has begun. . .

The month of May came in with the joys of a broken oven. . . and the challenge to make yummy treats without baking anything. I wasn't sure if it would take a week or a month (and we are now at a month and still waiting for my new oven) to get it fixed (or replaced. . . my secret hope!). So, my first choice of no-bake cookie May was one of the most popular and probably one of the easiest cookies I have ever made.

In fact, they are even called NO BAKE COOKIES. There were so many recipes on the internet that were exactly the same or slightly different that I went with the allrecipes.com recipe that had 4.5/5 stars. . . if other people were happy with them, then I was willing to give it a try.

No Bake Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa. Bring to a boil, and cook for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in peanut butter, oats, and vanilla. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper. Let cool until hardened.

So, this recipe was delicious. They didn't last long. Ethan loved them. Jon loved them (although, I think he thought them very weird), and my nephew, George couldn't get enough of them (he threw a temper tantrum after I said he should probably wait until after dinner to eat one). I also enjoyed them!

So, on another note (still related to baking & cookies), Williams Sonoma has come out with something cool (don't get me wrong. . . I think 75 percent of the stuff in that store is cool), but this is cool on a whole new level. . . my husband thinks they are cool. Why you ask? Because they just came out with Star Wars cookie cutters. (click on the link to find out just how cool they really are!). They also have pancake molds. Now, since I am on a very limited budget. . . I am trying to decide on a plan to come up with 20 extra dollars. . . wouldn't that be a great Father's Day gift? or even a See how much I love you gift? Any ideas are welcome. . . .

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

Yet another chocolate chip cookie recipe

I have decided that there is no possible way to get bored with baking. Really, especially with cookies. I mean, come on, how many possible ways are there to bake chocolate chip cookies? The funny thing is, most recipes seem to have the same common ingredients. Some, may have more butter than others, cold butter or room temperature, brown sugar, white sugar, or both, 1 egg or 2. . . but they all come out different. Weird, huh? I do admit that my favorite recipes seem to be the brown butter or Neiman Marcus and my husband's the basic Nestle Toll House recipe. But, it seems to me they all taste delicious!

This recipe is by some sort of UNIX programmer that made really good cookies with chocolate (Ummm, just to let you know, I THINK that UNIX is some sort of computer thing. . . not sure, though). I can't seem to find anything on him, but apparently he was good at it. These cookies were really good, but had some unusual steps that I had never seen before when baking. I usually just use one bowl, but with this recipe I used 2. I also am really impatient and usually bake cookies when Ethan wakes up from his afternoon nap. I only have so much time before Mr. 19 months starts to get antsy. So, while the butter and sugar mixture was mixing for its alloted time, I pulled out my hand mixer and started to beat my egg mixture for its alloted time. That made it go much quicker. I think it was well worth it, but the chances of me me making them again are slim, since I will most likely find another recipe to try (since there seem to be about a zillion different recipes out there! - possibly a slight exaggeration, but you get the idea!)

Here's the recipe:

The Ultimate Stand Mixer Chocolate Chip Cookie

2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (11.25 oz)
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. plus a pinch of salt
8 oz unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
1 cup very firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups toasted pecans or walnuts, chopped
3 cups chocolate chips (18 oz)

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set side.

Beat cold butter in bowl until creamy in bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add both sugars and continue beating at medium speed for 4-5 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat mix the eggs and vanilla together in a separate (small) bowl or measuring cup and slowly, one tablespoon at a time, add the egg mixture to the cream mixture while the mixer is in motion. This should take another 4-5 minutes.
With mixer on lowest speed or by hand, add dry ingredients. When incorporated, add chocolate chips and nuts and stir to mix.

Shape dough into golf ball size balls and arrange on a cookie sheet right next to each other. At this point, you are chilling them not baking them so you don’t have to worry about spacing. Cover dough balls overnight or for 6 hours. Remove and let warm to room temperature (30 minutes). Arrange cookie balls on ungreased cookie sheets spacing about 3 inches apart. Flatten a little to resemble a hockey puck, about ¾-inch high. Make edges go straight up and down. Make a slight depression in center with finger.

Bake at 400 degrees, 8-10 minutes (mine took a little longer). Edges should be golden brown but center 1-inch pale. Let sit at room temperature 5 minutes before taking off baking pan.

Makes about 32 cookies

Hard Boiled Eggs?

Okay, so I know that everybody probably has some some (or had some) hard boiled eggs that are dyed ever so brightly sitting in your fridge waiting to be gobbled up (and by now, probably forgotten about until you read my post!). Ethan and I have been having fun eating our hard boiled eggs and trying to get Jon to join in the fun (he detests eggs more than anything, I think!). But, this recipe could not be passed up because it looked like fun and all the comments were fabulous. So, as soon as my brown sugar supply was restocked on Thursday, I baked up a batch. Now, I will note that this recipe was for 2 LARGE cookies. And I am seriously thinking that whoever said it made 2 large cookies, was talking about 2 cookies the size of a small country. I don't do large. . . seriously. . . . I like mine about 2-3 inches in diameter. I was able to bake 19 cookies. A great recipe for a quick cookie fix, with out making a ton of cookies. So, I got my food processor (A.K.A. the magic tool) and got to work.

Here's my crumbly dough and chocolate chips being mixed in.After you pulse all of your ingredients, you pour it in a owl and stir in the chocolate chips. You just mix it with your fingers and then form them into pretty balls of any size. Super easy! I also didn't notice any egg whites showing. . . I think my food processor got them pretty small.
The cookies are baking. . . . they plump up nicely. I don't like it when the spread and get thin. . . there's too much risk in the cookies touching.
Ta Da! The final product! I will say, they are surprisingly delicious! I hope that you all try them out and let me know what you think!

Go here to find the recipe. Cookie Madness has several other hard boiled egg recipes also, but they said this one was their favorite. Have fun!

Happy Saturday everyone! I realized yesterday that it has been over a week since I last posted something . . . and man, I have an entire camera full of stuff to share with you all! So, first, I apologize for slacking off. Because in sooo many ways I have been so lazy! But, also, I have been so incredibly distracted. You see, Spring is here. . . yes! I may have posted something recently about how spring has sprung. In the past few weeks I have planted my very first garden full of cute little rows of strawberries, sugar snap peas, tomatoes, squash, potatoes, broccoli, and lettuce. I am so very excited about reaping my harvest this summer. I can already see a little broccoli growing and some sugar snap peas developing. My strawberries are getting big. . . still a little green (i think the birds may be eying them. . . so if you have any suggestions on how to keep birds out of a garden, please comment. . . i need help!). I have also been tackling the weed problem (Let me clarify. . . I mean the weeds that are overtaking my yard. . . not the illegal plant LOL). I am absolutely loving my yard. .. it is a haven of green! I have also started cleaning carpets and taking down wallpaper in our kitchen. Last night, we bought paint for our kitchen and front bathroom. I am so excited! Our front bathroom has been blessed with nice blue tiles, sinks, and a tub. Yes, blue. The former owners also painted the walls BLUE! no joke! I am going to paint them a color, called "sand between your toes." In other words, I have a nautical theme going on there and I think a sand-like color will be a nice contrast. Out kitchen has this ugly green leafy, floral wall paper and border around it and I am slowly taking it down during nap time. I hope to start painting it a grey color this week. I am so excited about painting! I have lots of projects in my brain that just can't wait to get started!

Okay, so at the top of this post, I placed a picture of a recent diaper pouch I made using some Michael Miller fabric. I had so much fun making this for a friend. I was told to make it boy-like and green and brown. I found this fabric and couldn't resist. I also played around with a business card because this was a gift for her friend. I would love to start selling more of them.

And finally, I will leave you with a recipe that I made this week. They were eaten far too quickly for a picture to be taken. . . they were delicious. This recipe was featured in Rachel Ray's magazine a few months ago, when she did a feature on classic recipes. Being a fan of Oatmeal Raisin, I just couldn't resist. So, I made them and delicious they were! You can find the recipe here. There's also a picture there, so you can see just how tasty the are too!

I hope to be on here very soon. . . hopefully I won't get lost in the wallpaper and paint! Have a fantastic SPRING weekend!

Peanut Butter + Oatmeal + Chocolate Chips = Amazing!

Last week, I went searching for an idea for cookies for Jon's lunch. I was in dire need in inspiration and ideas and not in the mood to make something I had made before. I thought about making these until I found this recipe. I will confess, it was the first place I looked and the first recipe I saw. They looked delicious. . . until I read the ingredients. . . then, they looked divine! No joke! It seemed as if they combined all the yummy ingredients of everybody's favorite cookies. I also thought that Jon might enjoy them because he's a Reeces fan and this could very well hit his lunchtime sweet spot. After being baked, they were just as good as suspected! I highly reccomend them! Let me know what you think!

This recipe came from Brown Eyed Baker. She is very, ummm, particular when baking. She carefully measures each scoop of dough so she can have perfect cookies. She will even tell you the exact measurement to the ounce if you want it. I don't own a scale and probably never will . . . there are just too many other cool kitchen gadgets to collect. Also, a scale would take up counter space, and my kitchenaid mixer will not give up it's home (I don't have a ton of counter space and I am not a fan of cluttered counters). I am really a fan of my medium Pampered Chef Cookie Scoop and that's what I use, for my perfect sized cookies. I don't make mine HUGE because I like to not feel guilty for eating a cookie every now and then.

Happy Baking!

So here's the how-to. . .

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

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

4. Use a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons) and drop dough onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. Cool completely on the baking sheet and then store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Brownie Chunk Cookies

I love cookies. I love brownies. Mmm. . . . why not combine the two? I found this recipe on a blog sometime ago and have always had the idea stored in the back of my head until 2 weeks ago, when I actually had some brownie chunks to use. Then, I couldn't find it anywhere! (That's the way it works, right?) I spent what seemed like hours searching all the blogs I read and it was as if the recipe had been imagined. I just couldn't believe that I had imagined it, so I got online to cookiemadness.net and emailed Anna personally (she was super nice about it!), and she knew exactly which recipe I was talking about. . . however, she hadn't made them and couldn't find her link to the recipe either. She did mention that she had seen it in BonAppetit and so I googled it. . . and within 30 seconds, I had my recipe. Wahoo! I was so excited and couldn't wait to begin baking!

Here are my notes on the recipe:
:: I didn't make my own brownies. . . I used the brownie bites left over from a MOPS meeting.
:: I didn't add any nuts.
:: The comments on this recipe said the brownie recipe used was amazing. . . some day, I will try it.
:: Jon said that they were the closest thing to plain old chocolate chip cookies he had had in a long time (try a year. . . yes, it has officially been a year of no baking Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies. I am going to plan on baking him some, soon!)
:: These were really good. I hope to make them again sometime, however, there are so many new recipes to try, it might be awhile, and brownies don't usually last that long in our house. . . especially those fresh out of the oven!
:: Please try this recipe and let me know your thoughts. . . I would love to hear them!

Here's the recipe from BonAppetit:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup walnuts, broken into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 recipe (1/2 sheet) chilled Old-Fashioned Brownies, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (generous 4 cups)
Nonstick vegetable oil spray

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Whisk first 3 ingredients in medium bowl. Beat butter and both sugars in large bowl until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients, then walnuts. Gently fold in brownie cubes (brownies may crumble).
Spray 1/4- to 1/3-cup ice cream scoop with nonstick spray. Scoop batter; drop onto prepared sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart and spraying scoop with nonstick spray as needed. Using moist fingertips, flatten mounds to 1-inch thickness.
Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until just golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets.

Happy Baking!

Playing catch-up

Where have the days gone? It seems like forever since I have posted something worthwhile and so I am going to start catching up today even though I should be napping. Apparently, when you are up most of the night with your sick toddler, the old rule applies. . . "sleep when they sleep." I confess, I should be doing that, but there isn't much time between packing (for our move), Christmas (there are gifts to be made), and the mess (sick kid + 4 day weekend = messy house and lots of laundry). But now, he will be waking soon, and so here, I sit, sleepy and relaxed, staring at my computer.

2 weeks ago (yes, it has been that long!), I found this recipe for the most amazing pumpkin-chip cookies I have ever tasted! I am not a huge fan of making pumpkin cookies, because they just don't store right and are more like cake than cookies. These cookies ended up being amazingly delicious. I only made cookies with half the batter and saved some for later, because they don't last long in their moist, delicious state.

Excuse my picture, I took it on my phone with not the best light. But these really are quite good!

Happy Baking!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

1 cup butter
1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin butter
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp orange zest ( didn't have one, so I used a lemon)
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg, vanilla, and pumpkin butter. Mix well. Slowly add dry ingredients, mixing well to combine after each addition. Stir in zest and chocolate chips. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Bake for 15-18 minutes at 350 degrees.

I am in complete shock that it already November (a little side note that I am roasting in our warm November weather!). Last week, was a whirlwind week so I am trying to play catch up on my blogs, projects, and packing. So, in addition to pumpkin, I love spices. Mmmm. . . the smell of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves just melts me to pieces. I love it! So, I found this recipe for chai snickerdoodles and baked them up with eagerness. They were delicious! The extra spices in the dough add the perfect touch to an already delicious cookie! You can find the recipe here. I couldn't resist the taste of these and baked the whole batch. Yes, they were THAT good! After realizing that I baked the whole batch and couldn't eat them all (well. . . I could, but I am hoping to stay at my pre-pregnancy weight through the holidays), so I needed a way to get rid of them (They were too good to give to the trash can). One of my favorite blogs, Skip to my Lou had a great idea. I am not a scary Halloween fan, but this one just looked so fun, that I couldn't resist. I put my cookies in a cute bag, tied it with a ribbon, and gave them to my friends with this "BOO" door knob hanger.

The other side says:

This Halloween Ghost has come to town.

To leave some goodies. . . I see you've found.

Put this ghost upon your door as a sign to your friends to Boo you no more.

If you wish to make this a happier fall, continue this greeting, this ghostly call.

Gather some treats and deliver them soon,

Within two nights, by the light of the moon.

Don't let them see you, be sneaky at night.

Ring the doorbell, be fast, and stay out of sight.

The directions you need are found on this site

to make ghost door hangers for this fun night.

Check the web for the letter to boo,

It's all right there on Skip to my Lou.

This is all in good fun and we're trying to say

Happy Halloween and have a fun day!

Tis the Season . . .

For Pumpkin!

October is here and my dreams of pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin pies, and pumpkin . . . well anything else are coming true. I live for FALL. Well, I live for Christ, but I love fall! I look forward to it all year, especially when I start getting sick of triple digit weather!

Last week, I hosted a play date for the mom's at my MOPS table. I found the Starbucks Pumpkin scone recipe. . . mmmm. . . so delicious! I made mini ones for two reasons. . .
1. smaller ones make a batch go longer
2. I just couldn't see 560 calories in just one large scone. . . why not split them up?

After making the scones, I had a half of can (or about a cup) of pumpkin left and I just couldn't let it go to waste. . . especially since there seems to be a shortage of canned pumpkins out there (Many stores in my area are sold out!). So, I found this recipe for Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies that only called for 1 cup and a delicious cream cheese filling. . . so very tastey! I even added some nutmeg to the cream cheese filling that just added a little touch to the already delicious treat! My small group gobbled them up on Sunday night!

COOKIES
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
CREAM CHEESE FILLING
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

PREHEAT oven to 350° F.

Lightly grease or line four baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large mixer bowl on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin and vanilla extract; beat until smooth. Stir in flour mixture until combined. Drop by heaping measuring teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes or until springy to the touch. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl on medium speed until fluffy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Spread a heaping teaspoon of filling onto flat side of one cookie; top with flat side of second cookie to make a sandwich. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling. Store in covered container in refrigerator.

A fall day. . .

came and went.
Yesterday was the first, truly fall day. We had our first rainstorm of the fall/winter season. . . and it was perfect! Today. . . well, today is sunny and humid. . . did spring come early? (It's 85 degrees out there!) To make yesterday even perfect, I was treated to a delicious pumpkin spice latte and got to spend the afternoon veggin'.

I picked up these cool mini cupcake wrappers at Target yesterday. . . so festive for upcoming Halloween treats. I found some peanut butter cookie dough in the freezer, popped some balls in the tart pan and baked for about 8 minutes. When they got done, I pushed some unwrapped reeces peanut butter cups in the middle.. . a quick and instant peanut butter treat! My peanut butter cookie recipe can be found here. I was going to make some pumpkin recipe of some sort but I only have one can left and it seems that this pumpkin shortage is really happening. . . I can't find it anywhere!

Rain drops outside my front door. Ahhh. . . . the perfect addition to a peaceful afternoon!

My flowers in the rain. . . I love it!

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

mmm. . . chocolate. I think that I have been in the mood for chocolate. M&M's, dark chocolate bars, you name it. . . chocolate. So, what better treat than chocolate oatmeal cookies.

These cookies are delicious. I found the recipe at Hershey's and it got rated 4 stars.

Here it is:

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups quick cooking rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped nuts (I omitted these)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350.

Beat butter and sugars in a large bowl until light and fluffy; blend in eggs and vanilla. Stir together flour cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add the butter mixture, mixing well. Stir in oats and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for about 10 minutes, allowing them to be slightly moist in the center. Cool for 1 minute before removing to wire rack.

Enjoy!

slab cookies

This week, I just took cookies out of the freezer, sliced, and baked. Ta Da cookies! Sorry, I was being lazy. . . and my freezer stash was growing and needed to be stopped! I made this cookies earlier in the summer, and never got around to posting them, so I thought I would take the opportunity to do so now.

These are not my most favorite cookies in the world. Easy. .. yes. Tasty. . . yes. So, why are they not my favorite. Well, I quite enjoy and gooey, soft, warm cookie that melts in your mouth whereas this cookie. . . well is dry (in a good way) and crumbly. It is more like a sandie cookie (you know those almond sandies you buy in the store?). So, yes, it is good (I am sharing it with you after all), you can do so much with the basic batter and they freeze incredibly well! They also look really nice stacked. . . a great gift idea possibly?

I found the this recipe at Smitten Kitchen. She just had the most adorable baby. . . so that may be incentive enough to check her site (she posted pics of their "almost" edible little guy! Very precious!). She also gives lots of different ways to make these cookies with a selection of add ins (kind of felt like I was at the cookie version of marble slab!). I used mini chocolate chips for this batch.

This is them all rolled out and frozen. . . just slice and bake!

Sliced, baked, and ready to eat!
I have to admit. . . they are really pretty.

So, please enjoy these cookies. . .

Happy Baking!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Last week, in attempt to be a "wise spender," I purchased the JIF natural Peanut Butter rather than our usual Skippy peanut butter. It ended up being very slimy and oily. . . which doesn't really go great with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Jon eats them every day and even he was complaining (he usually only complains about egg based food and the color "white"). So, I figured the only remedy to speed the emptying of these containers would be to make peanut butter cookies (which I will making several batches over the next few weeks!). I looked online and found a great recipe at the blog Brown Eyed Baker and decided to make them. While reading her post she mentions that she found the recipe in an old cookbook of her mom's and the original had all sorts of name brands in it. So, after making these great cookies (the recipe did seem some what familiar) I googled the JIF recipe and sure enough, the exact same recipe. So, my delicious peanut butter cookies are the tried and true JIF brand Irresistable Peanut Butter Cookies. I guess you just can't go wrong with this recipe! Happy Baking!

Here's the recipe:

1¾ all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon salt

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¾ cup creamy peanut butter

½ cup vegetable shortening

1¼ cups packed light brown sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 egg

Granulated sugar, for rolling cookies

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Line baking sheets with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
2. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Combine the peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed until well blended. Add the egg and beat just until blended. Reduce speed to low and add to the creamed mixture gradually, mixing just until combined.
4. Put the granulated sugar in a small bowl. Scoop a tablespoonful of dough and roll into a ball between the palms of your hands. Roll the dough into the sugar and place on the baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Dip the tines of a fork into the sugar and make a crisscross patern on the cookies, flattening them slightly.
5. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes or until set and just beginning to brown. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet before removing to a cooling rack.
Storing: Store these cookies in an airtight container for about a week. You can also freeze these cookies in a freezer bag for approximately 3 months and thaw when you are ready to eat them.

The Brown Butter Cookie Company

This past weekend, I (along with my husband and son) spent the weekend in Cayucus. It was his family's annual retreat to the coast and a ton of fun! While we were there, we discovered this quaint and scrumptious little cookie shop. I really wanted to let you know about it because their cookies were so delicious. I also thought it was cool because I just happened to make my brown butter chocolate chip cookies for the weekend and we found a store that specialized in making cookies with brown butter. They have a special recipe for a brown butter cookie and brown so much butter just for those that they just keep their regular recipe for their peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies. All in All, this place was so friendly and welcoming. . . plus they gave a sampling of their cookies when you walked in! You can even order their cookies online. So, if you are ever in Cayucus. . . I highly recommend you treat yourself to some amazing cookies!

cookie challenge week 8 - Snickerdoodles

I have been having a hankering for some soft, freshly baked snickerdoodles. I just love them when they are soft. . . not so much when they get hard and crumbly. While looking for some recipes to make for Lisa's baby shower, I stumbled across this recipe and it just made my mouth water! I had already baked up some frozen dough for Jon's lunch (he had requested those S'more cookies I made in June) and so I needed a good excuse to whip up a batch. It didn't take too long for a good reason to do some baking to arrive. Breaunna, a young lady I used to mentor when she was a junior higher, is starting college. Today she moves into her dorm at Fresno State and I thought she would love some freshly baked cookies to welcome her into college life. I am so excited for her and see how her walk with God will grow as she lives in the dorms and digs into Fresno State life.

You can find the recipe here.

CC - Week 7: Chocolate Ginger Cookies

Okay, so yes, baking seems to be the trend of posts lately, so once again, I apologize if you are wanting to see some new projects (they will come. . . I just don't want to unveil them yet!). I found this recipe online the other day and let me tell you . . . they are scrumptious. This cookie is a combination of gingersnaps and chocolate chip cookies and they don't even have eggs in them! That, my friends, made my husband very, VERY happy (for those of you who haven't heard, he can't stand the little guys!). This recipe is a Four Seasons Hotel recipe and the cookies are just as rich as the hotel it comes from. I will definitely be keeping this one in my cookie file to make again. . . especially around Christmas! I baked them for about 5-8 minutes on my silpat and they came out perfectly soft, but still held together nicely.

You can find this recipe here.

Cookie Challenge - Week 6

So, it's the end of the month and this week's cookies are using what's left in the cupboards without going to the store. I was researching oatmeal cookies from different baking blogs (because I had plenty of oatmeal in the pantry) and found that the basic Quaker Oat recipe seems to be truly the best. So, what else could I do, but try to make it just a tad better. I used the regular recipe, but plumped the raisins (see note at bottom) and them into melted chocolate (sorry. . . I really needed my chocolate fix this week!) I also really enjoy the taste of cinnamon, so I added about a half teaspoon more to the mix.

You can find the recipe here.

These are dipped in chocolate.

I still had some cookies left and was running out of chocolate to dip it into, so I scooped some into a sandwich bag, cut off the tip and drizzled them with chocolate.

The judge (aka my hubbie) said that the drizzled ones look the best, but the dipped give the choice of chocolate of plain with every bite. For the record, he took one of each. :)

To plump your raisins: Heat water in your teapot. Measure out your raisins in a glass dish. Pour boiling water over raisins to immerse in water. Let stand for a couple of minutes. Drain water and your raisins should be plumped! I will also note that Jon did notice that the raisins were plumper and he liked it!

Cookie Challenge - Week 5

After a week of being home and back in the groove of things (well, almost anyways), I broke down Monday night and baked some cookies. It was so hot that day, but I already had chicken cooking, and these cookies ended up being well worth having the oven on! I had seen a recipe somewhere that used browned butter in their chocolate chip cookies and so I googled it and baked the first recipe that popped up (Twin Tables blog) and made them. And, ohhhh my goodness. . . These were so goooood! The first thing Jon said was, "Oh, good! nothing weird in them!" Little did he know that I took the time to brown my butter before preparing them, therefore they are NOT plain old chocolate chip cookies. Yeah!

I will say that as delicious as these cookies are, they do take a little bit more time to make since the require taking the time to brown the butter. But, please don't let that stop you. . . it's not that hard! In fact, once you do it once, you can actually do other things while the butter is browning and every so often swirling your pan.

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)
1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly greast two baking sheets or line with parchment paper. Whisk flour and bakign soda together in a medium bowl; set aside.Heat 10 tablespoons butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue to cook, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes more. Remove from skillet and transfer to a large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Stir in remaining 4 tablespoons butter until completely melted. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter; whisk until funny incorporated. Stir in egg and yolk. Whisk mixture until no sugar lumps remain, about 30 seconds. Let mixture sit for about 3 minutes, then whisk it for 30 seconds; repeat this process two more times. After about 10 minutes, mixture should be thick, smooth, and shiny. Using a rubber spatula, stir in flour mixture until just combine, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips. Use cookie scoop to place dough on greased cookie sheet, parchment paper, or silpat. Bake cookies, one tray at a time, until cookies are golden brown, still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cook cookies completely on baking sheets.

Cookie Challenge - Week 4

Today, I made chocolate chip cookies . . . but I didn't use the traditional recipes. Yeah me! Jon has been asking for chocolate chip cookies and I needed something quick and easy to make for our road trip this week and make his belly happy. I also didn't have that much food in the cupboards, so I had to work with what I had. I found this recipe on Epicurious and they taste delicious. It is a pretty basic recipe, but there is some magic going on with the eggs here, so make sure you follow the directions closely. This recipe also for a little more than a bag of chocolate chips. Since, I only had one bag, I added half of my Heath bits bag and a chocolate Hershey Bar broken into pieces. You can find the recipe here.

Cookie Challenge - Week 2

This week, I decided to try S'Mores cookies. I have very fun memories of sitting in front of the campfire as a kid roasting marshmallows for S'mores. So, it didn't take much talking into to make these. These cookies were, by far, one of the best cookies I have every made. They have graham cracker crumbs, chocolate bar chunks, and mini marshmallows all melted together in this scrumptious cookie. Plus, they are not as messy as making the real thing. I found this recipe at the Cookie Madness blog.

Here it is:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, cool room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate

1 cup miniature marshmallows

2 Hershey Bars, broken into pieces (or other favorite milk chocolate)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Cream butter and both sugars with an electric mixer; beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in salt and baking soda making sure they are well distributed and free of lumps; stir in the flour, followed by graham cracker crumbs. Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheets, spacing about 3 inches apart. Bake for 9 minutes. Remove and quickly press marshmallows and chocolate into cookies. Return to oven and cook until done (about 3 or 4 more minutes)
Makes about 3 dozen