Tag: cookies

Chinese Restaurant Almond Cookies

chineserestaurantalmondcookiesConfession: Asian food isn’t really my jam. No offense, Asia – I know your various cuisines are popular with many, many folks. And while I enjoy some fried rice now and then, I haven’t spent must time in Chinese restaurants in my life. I’ve certainly not encountered these cookies there, either. But they do seem familiar to me.

Our local grocery chain, Giant Eagle, used to sell something called a “rainbow cookie” in its bakery. They were usually swirled with a few different colors – green and yellow, red, white, and blue – and they had the same crumbly texture as these treats. This recipe comes from the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion, and the only change I made was to omit the whole blanched almond in the middle since I didn’t have any on hand. There’s also an option to glaze these with chocolate, but I think they’re better plain.

Ingredients

  • 2 3/4 cups flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup vegetable shortening, chilled
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons almond extract
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Cut chilled shortening into cubes, then cut into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter until the mixture is uniformly crumbly.

In a separate bowl, whisk vanilla extract, almond extract, egg, and egg yolk. Sprinkle over the flour/shortening mixture and stir until a cohesive dough forms; I used my hands to fully incorporate the ingredients and make a smooth dough.

Using a 1-inch cookie scoop, scoop generous portions of dough and roll into balls. Place on the baking sheets and flatten to about 1/2 inch thickness; bake for 16-18 minutes, until just set; this means a fingerprint will remain in the cookie and not spring back. You don’t want to over-bake these, otherwise they’ll be too hard, so I’d err on the side of under-baking just slightly and allowing the cookies to cool a few minutes (and continue baking) on the baking sheets before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Espresso Cookies

espressocookiesThe King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion bills these treats as spiked coffee cookies – but really, I couldn’t taste anything but chocolate and espresso. Hence, a rebrand. No offense, King Arthur.

Full disclosure – I adapted these treats to omit the coffee liqueur in the ganache, because I’m not that big a fan of it. They still turned out pretty well – like an espresso for the end of a meal, as they were billed in the cookbook. I think you’d be fine to omit the coffee liqueur or just substitute regular coffee in the recipe if you don’t have it on hand.

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup coffee liqueur
  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon espresso powder
  • 1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 1 3/4 cups flour

For the ganache

  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 6 tablespoons heavy cream

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and brown sugar. Add liqueur, egg, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder, beating until smooth. Beat in cocoa powder and flour.

Using a 1-inch cookie scoop, drop scoops of dough onto the baking sheets, about 2 inches apart; the cookies do spread when baking. Bake for 12 minutes, until edges are set; remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Once cookies have cooled, make the ganache: place chocolate chips and heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl and heat in short, 15-second bursts to melt the chocolate, stirring between each. Once chocolate is completely melted, spread on cookies; allow to set before storing. Makes 3 dozen.

Brown Butter Almond Cookies

brownbutteralmondcookiesI first heard about brown butter on the Great British Baking Show several years ago, and now I see recipes using it everywhere. To make it, you melt butter then continue cooking it to “toast” the milk solids, bringing out a different flavor.

These brown butter almond cookies – which I found at Lovely Little Kitchen – remind me a bit of amaretti. I tweaked the original recipe to add more almond extract and omit the powdered sugar coating (because that’s just messy). They’re destined for my dear friend Diana, one of the very few people in my life who also bakes for me.

Ingredients

  • 10 tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Granulated sugar, for rolling

Preparation

Make the brown butter: In a medium saucepan, melt your butter over medium heat. Continue to cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until the mixture turns brown; it will foam, then start to form brown flecks, after about 3-4 minutes, but keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn. Pour into another bowl to cool completely before using.

In a mixer fitted with your paddle attachment, beat brown butter and sugars to combine. Beat in vanilla extract, almond extract, and eggs. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and beat on low speed to combine. Cover and chill your dough for about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper. Place granulated sugar in a small bowl.

Remove dough from fridge and scoop 1 1/2 inch portions, then roll into balls and coat in granulated sugar. Place about 2 inches apart on your baking sheets and bake for 12-14 minutes, until cookies are set. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes, then cool completely on wire racks. Makes about 30 cookies.

Chocolate Snickerdoodles

chocolatesnickerdoodlesDo you need to chill cookie dough? Sometimes yes, sometimes no – it depends on the ingredients, and what the end result of the cookie is meant to be. When you chill dough, it allows the butter (or other fat) to solidify, preventing the cookies from spreading too much as they bake.

I didn’t chill today’s chocolate snickerdoodle dough, but I wish I had – and I will next time. These cookies are delicious, but flat and thin, not exactly the texture I wanted. The chocolate/cinnamon combination is amazing, though; I made a small batch of just about 16, so you could easily double the quantities below for a regular amount. Also, the preparation directions below include what I’d recommend for chilling time.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon, and salt; set aside. In a mixer, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy; add egg and vanilla and beat to combine, Add flour mixture and beat to fully combine. Chill dough for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, combine granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Using a 1-inch cookie scoop, scoop dough and roll into balls, then dip in cinnamon sugar to coat. Place on baking sheets about 2 inches apart; bake for 8-10 minutes, until edges are set but centers are still puffy. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the baking sheets or a few minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 16 cookies.

Chocolate Toffee Cookies

chocolatetoffeecookiesWhat exactly is toffee? It’s a cousin of caramel, cooked longer so it hardens and becomes brittle. Think Heath bar, but without the chocolate – that’s toffee.

This recipe came from the back of the Hershey’s Heath Bits O’Brickle Toffee Bits (just the plain toffee bits, not the milk-chocolate covered ones) and while it wasn’t exactly what I expected, it’s delicious. The cookies turned out really flat, likely because I didn’t chill my dough before I baked them – but regardless, they’re really good.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 6 tablespoons sugar
  • 6 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 egg
  • 8-ounce package Hershey’s toffee bits

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a mixer, cream together butter, sugars, and vanilla extract. Add egg and beat to combine, then add flour mixture. Stir in toffee bits. If desired – and though I didn’t do this, I do recommend it now – chill your dough for about 30 minutes before baking.

Using a 1-inch cookie scoop, scoop generous portions of dough – about the size of a walnut –  and roll into balls. Place about 3 inches apart on your baking sheets; I baked 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 8-11 minutes, until edges are set. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets for a few minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 22.

Maple Snickerdoodles

maplesnickerdoodlesIt’s fall, yeah? So that means flavors like maple and cinnamon – though I admit that these maple snickerdoodles are more cinnamon than anything.

I found this recipe at A Latte Food, and I think if I make them again I’ll adapt them a few ways. First, I’ll substitute the granulated sugar for maple sugar, because the maple flavor is pretty subtle. Second, I won’t use quite as much cinnamon in my sugar/cinnamon mixture for rolling. In any case, they’re a decent fall cookie.

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup 
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 egg
  • Additional 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon, for rolling

Preparation

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cream of tartar, and salt. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Add maple syrup, vanilla, and egg and mix well. Add flour mixture and beat to combine. Chill your dough for at least 1 hour, until easy to handle.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon in a small bowl; set aside.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop balls of dough and roll in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Place on baking sheets; I baked six cookies at a time. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until centers are puffed and edges are set. Remove from oven; cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes 24.

Turtle Cookies

turtlecookiesChocolate + caramel + pecans = one of my favorite things ever. Earlier this summer I baked pecan turtle cupcakes, and within a few weeks these turtle cookies from The First Year Blog came across my Pinterest feed. They looked amazing in the photo…but when I baked them, wow. The photo you see here is of one of the very few that didn’t turn out to look like a total mutant. See below for the mutants, they’re actually quite entertaining. Also, there’s no Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pun intended here, but haha.

What happens is that the caramel pieces melt, then explode out of the cookies at whatever random point they see fit. One of my cookies looked like the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars, which was actually pretty cool. Anyway…these treats are insanely delicious, but really, really rich. If I make them again, I’ll use caramel bits instead of chopping up caramel squares (how much does caramel stick to a knife? Too much, thanks.) and will use a one-inch cookie scoop so they’re smaller, just a few bites each.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 8 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup chopped caramel squares, or caramel bits
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, stir together chocolate chips, chopped caramel pieces, and chopped pecans; set aside. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda; set aside.

Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat to combine. Add in flour mixture and beat on low to combine; stir in chocolate chip/caramel/pecan mixture.

Scoop dough using a two-inch cookie scoop and roll into balls; place about two inches apart on baking sheets and bake for 10-14 minutes; tops will crack, but edges will be set. Remove from oven and cool on the baking sheets for about 4-5 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 21.

mutantturtlesMutant cookies! Check out the Millennium Falcon on at the top. 

Chocolate Crinkles

chocolatecrinkles

Chocolate crinkles are a classic…but typically coated in powdered sugar. And while this is totally fine with me at Christmas, I wondered what they’d be like coated in regular granulated sugar, like a peanut butter cookie. The result, I’m happy to report, is really delicious.

This recipe is based on the chocolate peppermint crinkles I made many years ago; I’d like to try a chocolate orange version as well, so stay tuned. If you prefer to coat these in powdered sugar, go for it, but bear in mind that powdered sugar-coated things don’t fare terribly well at the height of summer.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste (or extract)
  • 2 eggs
  • Granulated sugar for coating

Preparation

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder; set aside.

Combine baking chocolate, butter, and salt in a small saucepan and melt over very low heat, stirring well to combine. Pour mixture into a medium bowl and add sugar, stirring well, then add vanilla bean paste and stir until smooth. Add flour mixture and stir until completely combined; mixture will thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour, until easier to handle.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Using a one-inch cookie scoop, scoop generous portions of dough and roll into balls, then dip in sugar and toss to coat very well. Place cookies about 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake for 11 minutes; remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheets for about 4-5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Makes 18.

Brownie Cookies

browniecookiesSo, all the benefits of a brownie in cookie form? Yeah, sign me up. I don’t know who thought of this, but they’re a genius and deserve some type of Nobel Prize. Wouldn’t it be awesome if there were a Nobel Prize for baking? Anyway…

Not to be confused with the brookie, which is a combination of a brownie and a chocolate chip cookie, these brownie cookies are literally brownies in cookie form. They’re fudgy without being gooey – an important aspect of brownie-ness in my opinion – and just really, really delicious. The original recipe comes from Erren’s Kitchen, and I left out the optional sprinkle of sea salt because I didn’t have it – but I’m glad I didn’t, because I feel like these treats are perfect without it.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 8 tablespoons butter
  • 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar

Preparation

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine chocolate chips, butter, coffee granules, and vanilla and stir until melted and smooth; set aside to cool for a few minutes. In a mixer, beat eggs, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light in color, about 3-4 minutes. Beat in the chocolate/butter mixture, then fold in the flour mixture. Cover your bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, drop scoops of dough onto the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each – I baked 6 cookies per sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges are set and tops are puffy. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 27.

Monster Cookies

monstercookiesI’ve baked for most of my life and blogged recipes for more than 10 years now. But never until today have I made monster cookies, one of those staple recipes that you find in almost any baking book. And let me tell you: I have been missing out. These things are delicious.

Apparently they’re called monster cookies because they combine so many different ingredients, like Frankenstein’s monster. Despite this macabre analogy, they are amazing – a peanut butter oatmeal cookie with chocolate chips and M&Ms. You can also add butterscotch chips or other ingredients if you want to, but I really had enough going on in my dough with just the basics. You’re also supposed to bake these in monstrous size – using a 1/4 cup measuring cup to portion out the dough – but I used a 2-inch cookie scoop. Seriously, I don’t think I’ll ever be the same again.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used crunchy)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 3/4 cup M&Ms, plus more for topping

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line four baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine oats, flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, peanut butter, and sugars until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and beat to combine; scrape your bowl a few times to make sure everything incorporates. Stir in flour mixture, then chocolate chips and M&Ms.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, drop scoops of dough onto the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges are golden but tops are still puffy. Remove from oven and press a few M&Ms into the tops of the cookies if you like. Cool on the baking sheets for 3-4 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 25.