Gourmet Chocolate Chip Cookies

From Valerie Kukahiko.

1 C. salted butter, cold and cubed

140 g. sugar

140 g. light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

440 g. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

230 g. milk chocolate chips (preferably Ghirardelli)

230 g. semi-sweet chocolate chips (preferably Ghirardelli)

Preheat oven to 400°. Evenly space the two oven racks so they are set towards the middle of the oven with a space between them.

Add butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high for 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl. Add sugar and brown sugar. Beat on medium-high for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl down as needed. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until mostly combined. Add flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix on low for 5 seconds. Add milk and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Mix on medium-low, just until combined and the dough comes together.

Weigh and roll dough into 3-oz. balls. Evenly space 9 dough balls on a double-stacked baking sheet. (Double stacking the baking sheets is essential for keeping the bottoms from browning.) Repeat with the other 9 dough balls. Bake both double-stacked pans at the same time for 6 minutes. Quickly rotate pans to the other rack and bake 6 minutes more, just until the tops of the cookies are starting to get slightly golden. Cool on baking sheets until firm enough to move. Cookies will continue to set up as they cool. Don't overbake or cookies will be dry.

Peanut Butter & Chocolate No-Bake Cookies

From the Food Network.

2 C. sugar
1/2 C. milk
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 C. unsweetened cocoa powder (or up to 1/3 C. if you like more chocolate)
3 C. old-fashioned rolled oats
1 C. smooth peanut butter
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Line a baking sheet/counter with wax paper or parchment.

Bring the sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, then let boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Add the oats, peanut butter, and vanilla, and stir to combine.

Drop teaspoonfuls of the mixture onto the wax paper/parchment. Let cookies sit at room temperature until cooled and hardened, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Note: The key to getting this recipe right is boiling the mixture for the right amount of time. Let the mixture come to a rolling boil, meaning that the mixture keeps boiling even when stirred. When the mixture reaches that point, set the timer for 1 minute.

Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies

From Natalie. The tricky part of this recipe is that you can only find the Cadbury Mini Eggs at Easter and Christmas.

1 C. sugar
1 C. brown sugar
1 C. butter, softened
2 eggs
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3 C. flour
1 10-oz. package of Cadbury Mini Eggs, crushed

Cream sugars and butter together until mixture is light and fluffy. Stir in eggs one at a time. Stir in vanilla, salt, and baking soda. Gradually add flour until well mixed. Stir in chopped candy. Drop by teaspoonful onto baking sheet two inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until cookies start to crack (they may not look done). Let cookies cool on baking sheet for a few minutes until firm and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Note: The Cadbury Mini Eggs are pretty hard to crush. You could probably use a blender or food processor, but I prefer putting them in a Ziploc bag and gently using a hammer! Don't worry about having a uniform size.

Lemon Drop Cookies

From See Jane Cook.

2 C. sugar
1-1/2 C. butter-flavored shortening
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. lemon extract
4 C. flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
finely chopped zest from one lemon
1 (6 oz.) pkg. lemon drops

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Finely crush lemon drops in blender or food processor. In mixing bowl, cream sugar and shortening. Add eggs and mix well. Stir in vanilla and lemon extract. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add lemon zest and finely crushed lemon drops and mix well.

Roll into balls, place on parchment-lined baking sheet, and slightly flatten. You must use parchment paper; otherwise, the cookies will stick to the pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cookies cool on pan for a few minutes to set. Transfer cookies to cooling rack and brush glaze over cookie tops. Let cookies cool completely. Cookies freeze well.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Note: I baked the cookies until I could see they were brown on the bottom but looked like they weren't quite done on the top (soft set). For crunchier cookies, bake until the tops are lightly browned.

Glaze
2 C. powdered sugar
4-5 Tbsp. lemon juice (from juice of about two lemons)

Stir together until smooth.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Modified from the back of a package of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (available on Hershey's website). If you want to make peanut butter cookie dough, link to the recipe. If you're short on time, use this simple version.

24 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Miniatures
1 package (12 cookies) Pillsbury Peanut Butter Cookie dough

Heat oven to 375 degrees (or temperature indicated on cookie dough package). Remove wrappers from candies. Line small muffin cups (1-3/4 inches in diameter) with paper baking cups. Take a single portion of the prepared cookie dough, and split in half. Roll each half into a ball and place one ball in each prepared muffin cup. Do not flatten.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes until puffed and lightly browned; remove from oven. Immediately press peanut butter cup or piece onto each cookie. Cool completely in muffin pan. Makes 24 cookies.

Note: I do not usually use paper baking cups. I just spray the muffin cups well with baking spray and they seem to release easily from the pan.

Molasses Spice Cookies

This recipe is from America's Test Kitchen, my favorite cooking show.

1/3 C. (2-1/3 oz.) granulated sugar, plus 1/2 C. for coating
2-1/4 C. (11-1/4 oz.) all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1-1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. table salt
12 Tbsp. (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 C. packed (2-1/3 oz.) dark brown sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 C. molasses

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Place 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar in a shallow baking dish or pie plate; set aside.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and remaining 1/3 cup granulated sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Decrease the speed to medium-low and add the egg yolk and vanilla; increase the speed to medium and beat until incorporated, about 20 seconds. Decrease the speed to medium-low and add the molasses; beat until fully incorporated, about 20 seconds, scraping down the bowl once with a rubber spatula. Decrease the speed to low and add the flour mixture; beat until just incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl once. Give the dough a final stir to ensure that no flour pockets remain. The dough will be soft.

Divide the dough into 22 portions, each about 1 tablespoon, and roll them between your hands into balls about 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Working in batches, drop five dough balls into the baking dish with the sugar and toss to coat. Set the dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Bake one sheet at a time, rotating the baking sheets halfway through the baking time, until the cookies are browned, still puffy, and the edges have begun to set but the centers are still soft (cookies will look raw between the cracks and seem underdone), about 11 minutes. Do not overbake.

Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes; using a wide metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Makes about 22 cookies.

Note: Light molasses gives the cookies a milder flavor; dark molasses gives the cookies a stronger flavor.

Cashew-Caramel Cookies

Another Martha recipe.

1-2/3 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2-1/2 C. roasted, salted cashews
2 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. canola oil
1 stick (8 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 C. packed brown sugar
1/2 C. granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
24 soft caramel-candy cubes (7 oz.)
1/4 C. heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour and salt together. Coarsely chop 1 cup cashews; set aside. Process remaining 1-1/2 C. cashews in a food processor until finely chopped. Pour in oil. Process until mixture is creamy, about 2 minutes.

Put cashew mixture, butter, and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low; gradually add flour mixture. Mix in reserved chopped cashews.

Shape dough into 1-1/2 inch balls; space 2 inches apart on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake 6 minutes; gently flatten with a spatula. Bake until bottoms are just golden, 6 to 7 minutes more. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.

Melt caramels with cream in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring. Let cool. Using a spoon, drizzle caramel over cookies; let set. Store airtight in single layers. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is from the mom of one of my good friends from high school. His sister and I decided to make chocolate chip cookies. I was impressed that she used a recipe from a cookbook rather than the recipe printed on the back of the bag of chocolate chips. Anyway, in the course of making cookies, I spilled about two pounds of flour all over their kitchen floor. Cleaning up flour is messy: first, flour dust goes everywhere; second, you can't use water because it makes everything gunky. After vacuuming up the flour, I soon forgot my mortification because as I was going down to the basement with the freshly baked cookies, I tripped down the stairs. So embarrassing! There was one redeeming part of the night: remembering this recipe which I have used ever since for baking chocolate chip cookies. Another memory is that this is the first recipe I attempted when I moved away from home for the first time to Dallas. I owned no kitchen accoutrements, so I will always remember that that first batch of cookies cost me about $75 by the time I bought a bowl, mixer, cookie sheet, and the ingredients.

2/3 C. shortening
2/3 C. butter, softened
1 C. sugar
1/2 C. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 C. flour
1 bag (12 oz.) chocolate chips, semi-sweet or milk

Blend shortening, butter, and sugars until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix until well combined. Stir in dry ingredients just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes or until lightly browned. Do not overbake; the cookies will harden as they set.

Variations: For double chocolate chip cookies, add 2/3 C. cocoa and reduce flour to 2-1/3 C. Also, this recipe works well with either M&M candies or the mini-sized M&M baking bits.

Oreo Cookies

The bishop's wife in my ward in Michigan gave me this recipe. Since then, cake mix cookies have become very trendy. I don't remember the exact story, but the bishop was a pretty important person at one of the large auto companies in Detroit and he told me that one of his colleagues was utterly impressed by these cookies. I fondly remember this story for two reasons: first, my stereotype that a VIP would only respect gourmet fare was shattered by the VIP's fancy for a recipe made from a cake mix; second, I could hear the admiration and appreciation the bishop had for his wife when he told me this story *sigh*. But the VIP was right, these cookies are delicious!

1 box devil's food cake mix
3/4 C. shortening
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and stir until well combined (the batter will be very thick). Roll into one-inch balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 6-10 minutes or until cracks appear in the tops of the cookies. Do not overbake. Remove cookie sheet from oven and let cookies sit for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool. Spread flat side of cooled cookie with filling; top filling with the flat side of another cookie.

Filling:
2 C. powdered sugar
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 C. butter, softened

Beat cream cheese and butter until well creamed. Slowly add powdered sugar. Mix until smooth.

Note: The filling makes a little too much. You can probably half the recipe if you don't want to be tempted to eat the leftovers!

Surprise Cookies

I found this recipe on marthastewart.com. I don't make too many of Martha's recipes because they usually call for exotic ingredients like cardamom or Meyer lemons. With the exception of marshmallows, I typically have all of the ingredients for these cookies on hand.

1-3/4 C. flour
3/4 C. cocoa
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 C. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 C. sugar
1 large egg
1/2 C. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
12 large marshmallows, cut in half horizontally

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a Ziploc bag, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Close bag and shake until well combined; set aside. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg, milk, and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add dry ingredients from Ziploc bag; mix on low speed until combined. Drop tablespoons of dough onto ungreased cookie sheet, leaving about 2 inches in between. Bake until cookies begin to spread and become firm, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove cookie sheets from oven and place a marshmallow, cut-side down, in the center of each cookie, pressing down slightly. Return to oven and continue baking until marshmallows begin to melt, 2 to 2-1/2 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting. Spread about 1 Tbsp. of frosting over each marshmallow, starting in the center and continuing outward until marshmallow is covered. Makes about 24 cookies.

Chocolate Frosting:
2 C. powdered sugar
4 Tbsp. butter, melted and cooled
1/4 C. cocoa
1/4 C. milk
1/4 tsp. vanilla

Place powdered sugar in bowl. Whisk in butter and cocoa. Add milk and vanilla and whisk until well combined.

Notes: For some reason, when I make the chocolate frosting recipe that accompanies these cookies, it turns out grainy. While the frosting still tastes good, the appearance is kind of gross. Instead you may want to use this chocolate buttercream frosting.

Butterscotch Gingerbread Cookies

Another recipe from Nestlé's website. My sister-in law Melissa introduced me to these cookies.

3 C. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1-1/2 tsp. ground ginger
3/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
1-1/2 C. packed brown sugar
1 C. (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/3 C. mild molasses
1 large egg
1 11-oz. package Nestlé Toll House Butterscotch Morsels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt in small bowl. Beat sugar, butter, molasses, and egg in large bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in flour mixture until well blended. Stir in butterscotch morsels. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned. Cool on cookie sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes 24 cookies.

Notes: I'll repeat my tip for mixing the dry ingredients in a Ziploc bag rather than a bowl. One of my pet peeves about making cookies is that the cooking process is very time-consuming. With a cake, you put it in the oven and go find something else to do for the next 30 minutes. With cookies, you barely put a batch into the oven before it seems like it's done and you have to pull it out, move the cookies to the wire rack, put more dough on the pan, and repeat. Rather than baking all of the cookies at once, my sister-in-law forms all of the dough into balls. She cooks how many she wants and the rest go into a Ziploc bag and into the refrigerator. Then for the next few weeks, she just bakes as many as she needs. I think that is a great idea!

Soft Pumpkin Cookies

Autumn is by far my favorite season. One reason is I love pumpkin. I love cooking with pumpkin because you usually need those spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, cloves) that make your kitchen smell wonderful. This is one of my favorite pumpkin recipes from Nestlé's website, verybestbaking.com. These cookies are really soft. I once served them with a scoop of Häägen-Dazs cinnamon dulce de leche ice cream for book club.

2-1/2 C. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1-1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. butter (1 stick), softened
1 C. Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on cookie sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Drizzle glaze over cookies. Makes 36 cookies.

Glaze:
2 C. powdered sugar, sifted
3 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine ingredients in small bowl until smooth.

Note: Rather than mixing the dry ingredients in a bowl before adding to the pumpkin mixture, I use a Ziploc bag. One less bowl to wash!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies: Add 1/2 C. chocolate chips.