Chocolate Chip | I Can Cook That

Homemade Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

I made my last ice cream recipe (Dark Chocolate Ice Cream) for my mom, so this time around, I am making Homemade Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream for my dad!

I feel like Mint Chocolate Ice Cream can be a pretty divisive flavor, but my dad loves it, so it’s about time I made him some!

This is a pretty simple recipe and does not require you to heat the milk mixture or add in eggs. It does still require overnight refrigeration of the mixture to get it nice and cold before churning.

This recipe also includes some food coloring to get a nice mint green color, but that is completely optional (my dad swears the green mint chocolate chip ice cream tastes better!)

Ingredients:

1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon peppermint extract (paid link)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon green gel food coloring, optional
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Continue reading Homemade Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love all things pumpkin, both savory and sweet. Despite already sharing over 30 pumpkin recipes, I have yet to share a recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I am happy to finally rectify that huge oversight, and I promise these cookies were worth waiting for!

Ingredients (makes about 30 cookies):

1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips (I used mini, regular size work too)

Continue reading Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Lactation Cookies

Not going to lie. I never thought I’d post a recipe for lactation cookies on my blog. (And no, I haven’t hidden the pregnancy and birth of my first child from you. I made a batch of these cookies, or more correctly, the cookie dough, for my sister-in-law.) But, here I am sharing a recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Lactation Cookies.

So, why am I sharing these? Because they are GOOD. Like. Really good. Also, these are perfectly acceptable to have even when you’re not nursing. (What? I had to sample them before giving them as a gift!) But if you want other cookie options, I have plenty to choose from as well!

Oats, brewers yeast and wheat germ are ingredients that not only promote lactation, but have a bunch of other great benefits:

Brewer’s yeast helps maintain a proper digestive tract while also enhancing energy and strengthening the immune system. It’s also a source of protein, potassium, iron, zinc and magnesium.
Wheat germ is a good source of magnesium, zinc, potassium, folic acid, and vitamin E. It also can boost your immunity, reduce the risk of heart disease, and help maintain a healthy weight.
Oats are high in fiber and iron, protein and complex carbohydrates.

After that lesson, I think we all deserve a little treat!

Ingredients – makes about 2 dozen cookies (get all ingredients here):

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup flour
3 tablespoons brewers yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons wheat germ
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips (I like to use a mixture of milk and dark chocolate chips)

Continue reading Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Lactation Cookies

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies

I’ve mentioned before that my husband is an avid runner. He’s currently training for a marathon, so I’ve been trying to support his training with more food geared toward fueling him both before and after his runs. It’s important to fuel up with something protein rich after working out to help promote muscle recovery.

These Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies are a yummy choice after a long run, while still satisfying my husband’s sweet tooth.

The cookies are made with peanut butter, protein powder and almond flour, so they are surprisingly filling too.

Ingredients (makes about 30 cookies):

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup vanilla whey protein powder (paid link)
1/4 cup almond flour
1/2 cup gluten-free oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark chocolate chips (check for vegan chocolate chips for dairy-free)

Continue reading Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Note: I was sent a holiday cookie decorating gift basket from De’Longhi, and one to give away. All opinions are mine alone.

With the holidays upon us, it’s always nice to find extra ways to give back. This season, De’Longhi, an international leader in household appliances, is helping to give back by donating 10% of its delonghi.us sales site-wide until December 20th to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is a national non-profit organization dedicated to funding research for safer, more effective treatments for pediatric cancer, the #1 disease killer of children in the U.S. For the first time, CookiesforKids’ Cancer has launched a Challenge Gift Campaign where all of the money raised from now to December 31st will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $250K. Visit Delonghi.us to purchase products and see all of the great holiday gift ideas De’Longhi has to offer. Visit Cookiesforkidscancer.org for more information on ways to donate!

To help spread the word, De’Longhi sent me a holiday cookie decorated gift basket to help make some yummy cookies which included The Cookies for Kids’ Cancer Cookbook.

The gift box includes:

set of holiday cookie cutters
3-pack of holiday colored icing
pair of cappuccino glasses
coffee
Cookies for Kids’ Cancer: Best Bake Sale Cookbook

I decided to make the cookie that started it all, a recipe for Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies that was developed for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer’s first bake sale.

This recipe is legit. They are the perfect balance of chewy, buttery, and chocolately. It’s no wonder the recipe is so popular!

De’Longhi was generous enough to also make a holiday cookie decorating gift basket for an I Can Cook That reader! More details on the giveaway after the recipe.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Continue reading Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adult Root Beer Float

Note: I was sent coupons for Graeter’s Ice Cream for review. Opinions are my own.

Happy National Root Beer Float Day! I had to celebrate the only way I know how, by making myself a root beer float, or, more specifically, an Adult Root Beer Float!

Luckily, Graeter’s Ice Cream wanted me to celebrate in style and sent me some coupons so that I could try their snazzy flavors in my float.

Graeter’s Ice Cream is still made the same way it has been since 1870: by hand. Made with high quality ingredients, the ice cream is still made one batch at a time in 2 1/2 gallon French pots.

Graeter’s has some seriously awesome flavors. To highlight some of them, I decided to make an “adult” root beer float, made with Not Your Father’s Root Beer, because, why not?

The Bourbon Pecan Chocolate Chip Ice Cream seemed like the perfect way to make a root beer float more for adults– it’s made with the bold taste of Kentucky bourbon, then loaded it with roasted, buttered, salted pecan halves and our gourmet bittersweet chocolate chips. (There isn’t actually bourbon in it by the way.)

The Original Salted Caramel is one of the first flavors Graeter’s made over a century ago. Made with brown sugar, cream, and a pinch of salt, it’s a perfect complement to root beer in my opinion!

(They also have a Madagascar Vanilla Bean flavor if you’re not feeling particularly adventurous with your float this time around.)

Ingredients:

1 pint Graeter’s Ice Cream of your choice, (I suggest Bourbon Pecan Chocolate Chip or Original Salted Caramel)
2 bottles of Not Your Father’s Root Beer
Whipped cream, optional
Chocolate syrup, optional

Continue reading Adult Root Beer Float

Banana Chocolate Chip Hemp Muffins

Note: I received products to use in this recipe from Just Hemp Foods. All opinions are my own.

Today is the last day of #Choctoberfest! If you haven’t already, be sure to go enter the giveaway now!

Because it’s Sunday, I have my mind on the week ahead. I really struggle to have an on-the-go breakfast option that actually tastes good and doesn’t load on the calories. I love making homemade muffins because then breakfast is set for the week, but it’s kind of tough to justify much nutritional value in most muffins.

But these little guys are amped up with Just Hemp 50% Protein Powder, which is a plant-based protein powder with essential amino acids vitamins and minerals. The powder is gluten-free, soy-free, and lactose-free, and can be added to just about anything! Each 4 tbsp serving contains 0.7g omega-3’s, 2g omega-6’s, and 6g of fiber.

You can connect with Just Hemp on their social media pages: Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram

Hemp protein powder is a great substitute for some of the flour in a baked good, up to 25%. I also happened to have some overripe bananas on hand, and still have some dark chocolate chips leftover from my #Choctoberfest baking, so I made these yummy gluten free banana chocolate chip hemp muffins for my fiance and me to enjoy all week! (This recipe can be made with normal flour instead of almond meal as well, it just won’t be gluten free.)

Ingredients: (makes 12 cupcake-sized muffins)

1 1/2 cups almond meal
1/2 cup Just Hemp 50% Hemp Protein Powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Imperial sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons mini dark chocolate chips

Continue reading Banana Chocolate Chip Hemp Muffins

Dark Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies

This is my third year participating in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap!

In its fourth year, the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap helps raise money for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a national non-profit organization committed to funding new therapies used in the fight against pediatric cancer, which claims the lives of more children in the US than any other disease.

In the past, I’ve made Hot Cocoa Cookies and Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, and Pecan Cookies so I decided to do another spin on Chocolate Chip Cookies this year!

I adapted a recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction. She has these fantastic Soft Baked cookies on her blog, and I used her Soft Baked White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies as the inspiration for this recipe. The secret to these soft and chewy cookies is the addition of cornstarch.. who would’ve thought??

I changed Sally’s original recipe just a touch, adding dark chocolate chips instead of white, using light brown sugar instead of dark, and substituting in almond extract for the vanilla extract. If you’re looking for some baking inspiration this holiday, absolutely check out Sally’s Baking Addiction, you won’t be disappointed!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 teaspoons almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
3/4 cup dried cranberries

adapted from sallysbakingaddiction.com

Continue reading Dark Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies

Pumpkin Cheesecake Tarts

Have you ever had a recipe just not work out the way it’s supposed to? It happens to me all the time. I usually tend to mess up a recipe so badly that I don’t even post it on here. But every now and then, my odd mistake ends up not being so bad, and is, dare is say it, quite delicious. This is one of those times, so I decided to share it. This recipe is adapted from verybestbaking.com.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup (~15) crushed gingersnap cookies

2 tablespoons butter, melted

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 can pumpkin puree

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 tablespoons dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. (I tried both paper and foil cupcake liners. Use foil, the paper ones got stuck and I couldn’t get the tarts out!)

Crumble the gingersnaps. Place them in a ziploc bag and roll with a rolling pin until finely crushed.

Combine the cookie crumbs and butter in a small bowl.

Evenly distribute into each muffin tin (about 1 tablespoon per muffin tin) and press into the bottom to create a crust. Bake the muffin cups for 5 minutes.

Beat the cream cheese, pumpkin, sugar, spices, and vanilla extract until blended.

This is where things went south. My cream cheese was not having this whole “blended” thing. I think it still might have been too cold so it kind of chunked off into the mixture. Blargh.

Add eggs and beat well.

Nope, still chunky.

Pour the mixture into the muffin cups, filling about 3/4 of the way full.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, remove, and allow to cool in a pan on a wire rack.

Refrigerate the tarts for 10 minutes. You can prepare the chocolate drizzle at this point. Add the chocolate chips to a heavy duty ziploc bag. Microwave on high in 10 second intervals, taking the bag out and kneading to see if the chips have melted. (I think mine took 3 10 second intervals).

Cut a super tiny corner from the bag.

Squeeze over the tarts to drizzle with chocolatey goodness.

So. They probably aren’t as pretty as they were supposed to be. And I was pretty bummed about the chunks of cream cheese. Sigh.

But one bite, and I was over it. They were delicious! It kind of ended up being like a mini pumpkin pie with bursts of cheesecake. So you can judge how funny they look all day, but I’ll just keep on snacking on my funny looking tarts. 🙂

Homemade Chipwiches

I have many childhood memories of me chasing down the ice cream truck to get my absolute favorite ice cream treat: a Chipwich. I mean, honestly, what more could you ask for in a dessert? Two chocolate chip cookies with ice cream sandwiched in between. Mmm.

So I was, well, horrified, to find out that the Chipwich brand name is no longer in existence as of 2007. At that time, Nestle bought the rights to the name and stopped all production because it competed with their “Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwich.” I mean, come on. The name Chipwich is exponentially more catchy. But hey, whatever floats their boat.

Since finding out this information, I can’t get the idea of making my own Homemade Chipwiches or Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwiches out of my head.

I was sent an Airbake cooking sheet recently and wanted to test it out. The Airbake Nonstick Insulated sheets are pretty snazzy. They are made of 100% aluminum and are comprised of two sheets surrounding a layer of air. This is said to reduce the temperature of the metal that actually comes in contact with the food which should result in more even baking. Airbake also claims that cookie bottoms won’t burn, win! (They also have natural sheets if you don’t want nonstick)

I decided to use a recipe from David Lebovitz for Salted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies because the only way I can think to enhance my homemade chipwiches would be to add a little salt to bring out the flavor.

Ingredients (makes about 12 hand-sized chipwiches, make cookies larger if desired):

4 ounces salted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt or kosher salt
1 1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 pint vanilla ice cream (or your favorite ice cream)
Mini chocolate chips, for decorating (optional)

Continue reading Homemade Chipwiches

Sweet and Salty Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am on a bit of a cookie kick at the moment. I’m blaming the particularly brisk weather. I also realized that Christmas is only 7 weeks away so it’s time to test out cookies that I can give away near the holidays. Cooking Light always has really delicious sounding recipes, and this one was no exception. The original used peanuts instead of walnuts, but I happened to have walnuts on hand.

Ingredients

1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
Parchment paper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add the flour, baking powder and baking soda in a medium sized bowl. Stir to combine.

Add sugar, brown sugar, and butter to a large bowl. Beat with a mixer until well blended (about 2 minutes)

Add vanilla and egg and beat until well combined.

Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture. Beat on low until blended. Stir in the walnuts, salt and chocolate chips.

Add the dough to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, about one teaspoon per cookie. Keep them 2 inches apart so they don’t run together while baking.

Bake for 12 minutes and cool on pan for 5 minutes. Allow to cool completely on wire racks.

I cooked mine for 14 minutes, and I found them to be a tad too cooked, so I suggest trying 12 minutes. You can always pop them in for a minute or two longer if need be.

I loved the random burst of salt that just enhanced the chocolate chip flavor.

I wanted a bit more walnuts though, so I’d suggest bumping the walnuts from 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup.

Past that, these were really tasty cookies!

Banana-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I never seem to eat all my bananas before they get too ripe. I know the go-to saver for over ripe bananas is banana bread, but I wanted to use them for something a little different. Cooking Light had a great cookie recipe that used ripe bananas, so I tried it out.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 medium)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
5 3/5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/4 cups)
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Cooking spray (or parchment paper)

Click to see savings

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

At the request of a coworker (and by request I mean he brought in cans of pumpkin puree), I finally made a pumpkin classic — Pumpkin Bread. Although usually made with walnuts or pecans, I instead decided to use chocolate chips. I used a recipe from Cooking Lightas a base for the recipe.

Ingredients:
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon cloves
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup egg substitute
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 large eggs
2/3 cup water
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
Cooking spray
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Add the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves to a medium sized bowl.

Combine using a whisk.

Add the sugar, egg substitute, oil, buttermilk, and eggs in a large bowl.

Using a mixer, beat on high until well mixed.

Add 2/3 cup water and the pumpkin puree.

Beat on low until blended.

Add the dry flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and beat on low until just combined.

Add the chocolate chips. Combine using a spatula. Be sure to not overmix.

Add batter into 2 9×5 inch loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Using a knife to loosen the edges, remove from pans and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

You can either half this recipe, or freeze the extra bread for up to one month. Just tightly wrap it in plastic wrap before putting it in the freezer.

The original recipe topped the bread with pecans or chopped walnuts, feel free to do that as well before baking.

If you think the bread is browning too much on top, cover it with tin foil towards the end (with 10-15 minutes left).

This bread is so so yummy. I love when I can pass off a dessert-like bread for a breakfast also. (Shh.)

I limited a bit of the spices, more so than I usually would, so that the star would be the sweetness from the chocolate chips. Definitely a winner!

Pumpkin Spice Bread

I was really hoping to make actual pumpkin bread using Dogfish Head’s Punkin Ale, but I couldn’t find pumpkin puree anywhere! Two years in a row of crop shortages are making it very difficult for me to enjoy my favorite ingredient. Anyways, I instead made a Pumpkin Spice Bread.

Ingredients:

1 Dogfish Head Punkin Ale (or other Pumpkin Beer)

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup walnuts

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Add the brown sugar, flour, baking powder, spices and salt to a medium sized bowl.

Mix to combine. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Add the beer. It will fizz up a lot!

Fold the dry ingredients into the beer until just combined. You do not want to over stir it, or the bread will not rise.

Add the chocolate chips and walnuts and stir to combine.

Spray a bread pan with cooking spray and add the dough to the pan.

Cook for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Allow to cool and then remove from the pan using a knife to loosen the edges.

Serve with butter sprinkled with cinnamon.

The bread has a subtle sweetness to it which makes it perfect for breakfast. I love crunch from the walnuts and the extra pop of sweetness from the chocolate chips.

Cookies Everywhere!

I can’t even begin to know a thing about baking. I still follow recipes to a T. I spent last Saturday making batch after batch of cookies, and all of these were well received.

The recipe for Black and White Chocolate Chip Cookies can be found here. These ended up looking almost like macaroons (shiny, cracked) but were delicious. I used Kahlua, not coffee, but I think the coffee might take some of the sweetness out, in a good way. (I forgot to take a photo! So sorry)

I attempted the Peanut Butter-Fudge Cups, recipe here. Despite following the recipe, I ended up with half of the number of cups and they look NOTHING like the photo with the recipe. But, they were delicious.

The Pecan Bar Cookies were surprisingly delicious. (Recipe here) They stayed chewy days after making, but were also nicely crunchy on top. I mixed the chocolate chips within the batter instead of melting the chocolate down and spreading on top.

My pumpkin obsession continues. These Iced Pumpkin Cookies (recipe here) made me so happy. These are a little more spicy (as in many spices, not hot) than a typical cookie, but the drizzled icing is a great contrast.

pumpkin cookies pre-iced

iced pumpkin cookies

Sugar cookie recipes can be found everywhere, I think you can even pick up sugar cookie mix, or pre-made cookie dough. I honestly doubt there would be much of a difference between the recipe I used here and buying dough from the store. The real fun with sugar cookies is decorating them! I used cookie cutters I picked up from the dollar store. For icing, I mixed confectioners sugar, vanilla extract, and a small amount of milk. I split the icing into different bowls and added food coloring. I also used sprinkles from the local grocery store to add some more pizazz. I know they look like a child made them, but I think that is part of their charm.

Happy cookie making!