Chocolate Creme De Menthe Cookies

Note: I was sent some baking tools from OXO in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.

It’s that time of year again – OXO’s Bake a Difference Campaign is live! Every year, OXO supports Cookies for Kids’ Cancer and the fight against pediatric cancer. Before I share my cookie recipe, I wanted to tell you a bit about Cookies for Kids’ Cancer.

Cookies for Kids’ Cancer (CFKC) is a nonprofit founded by two OXO employees after their son, Liam, was diagnosed with pediatric cancer. Through grassroots bake sales across the country, CFKC raises funds to develop new, improved and less toxic treatments for childhood cancer. Liam Witt’s legacy lives on as the organization works toward a cure for pediatric cancer, helping children and families everywhere.

Every year, OXO supports CFKC by encouraging people to bake and share. OXO sent me a bunch of baking goodies to help me get my creative juices flowing so I can share a new cookie recipe. This year’s kit included a 3-Piece Silicone Spatula SetSilicone Baking Cups (paid link)Non-Stick Pro 2 Piece Sheet Pan Set, and 3-Piece POP Round Canister Graduated Set.

For every cookie baked, OXO donates $1 to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer up to $100,000, so here is my new cookie this year to support the cause and spread the word!

Here are some of my old cookie swap and Cookies for Kids’ Cancer posts, in case you’re in a baking mood:

To help support, you can also register for the Bake a Difference campaign and host a virtual bake sale or an in-person event!

Moving to this year’s cookie: These Creme de Menthe Cookies are chocolate crinkle cookies with a chocolatey mint center. It is based off a cookie recipe I found in an Amish Community Cookbook (paid link) I’ve had for years.

Ingredients (makes about 3 dozen cookies):

  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons coffee
  • 1 teaspoon coffee extract (can substitute vanilla extract)
  • 1 (12 oz package) semisweet chocolate chips
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup Andes mint baking chips (paid link)

Continue reading Chocolate Creme De Menthe Cookies

Dark Chocolate Dipped Lemon Almond Sugar Cookies

Note: Bob’s Red Mill and OXO provided items for this giveaway. All opinions are mine alone. 

Seven years ago today, I started this blog. How crazy is that? It started as a way to archive recipes I tried and what I liked about them, and eventually morphed into a way for me to learn how to cook and experiment along the way. 780 posts later, I’m still at it!

Bob’s Red Mill and OXO are helping me celebrate this milestone in style. They were generous enough to provide some goodies for a giveaway! Bob’s Red Mill is my favorite company for grains, flours, beans, and baking mixes. Their commitment to quality products makes any recipe better. Similarly, you can find OXO products throughout my kitchen. They are my go-to for kitchen and household gadgets.

Naturally, I used a bunch of OXO and Bob’s Red Mill products to produce this recipe. With the holidays fast approaching, this giveaway is filled with all the goodies you need for your holiday baking!

This giveaway includes baking ingredients from Bob’s Red Mill:

and baking supplies from OXO:

Details on how to enter the giveaway are at the end of this post.

I decided to make a very “me” cookie to also celebrate. These cookies are made with some of my favorite flavors – lemon, almonds and chocolate! Meet Dark Chocolate Dipped Lemon Almond Sugar Cookies!

Ingredients: (makes 2 to 3 dozen cookies)

Continue reading Dark Chocolate Dipped Lemon Almond Sugar Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies

I’m a bit late posting this cookie recipe after Christmas and all but who really gets upset about a cookie recipe?

For as long as I can remember, Peanut Butter Cookies have been a part of my Christmas celebrations. They are just the best. And luckily, they are really easy to make too!

This recipe is from Food Network and can be made in under 30 minutes; you don’t even have to refrigerate the dough before baking!

Ingredients (makes approximately 2 dozen cookies):

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 (4 oz) stick butter, at room temperature
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

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Hot Cocoa Cookies

It’s that time of year again! I signed up for the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap again this year and got some great ideas for what to bake for Christmas!

In its third 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. The swap raised $13,778.40 this year, raised through blogger participants donations and matching donations from OXO, Dixie Crystals, Gold Medal, and Grandma’s Molasses. The goal was $10,000, so to get nearly $4,000 more in donations is amazing!

So here’s how the actual swapping part of this works: I was assigned three food bloggers and made one dozen cookies for each of them. In return, I received three different boxes of cookies from other bloggers.

Last year, I received a batch of hot cocoa cookies that were SO good I was craving them again this year. So I decided to make some myself! The chocolate cookies are topped with mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, and a touch of grated chocolate. I based my recipe off of Rachel Ray’s Hot Cocoa Cookies recipe.

 

 

Ingredients (get all ingredients here):

  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of unsalted butter
  • 1 (12 oz) package of semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 3 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 6 oz of milk chocolate chips
  • 1 package of mini marshmallows
  • 1 dark chocolate bar, for garnish (optional)

Continue reading Hot Cocoa Cookies

Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, and Pecan Cookies

This year, I participated in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.The Cookie Swap is in its second year and 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. I was assigned three food bloggers and made one dozen cookies for each of them. In return, I received three different boxes of cookies from other bloggers.

 

I wanted to make a cookie that was a spin on a traditional cookie. This Cooking Light recipe was perfect: Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, AND Pecans!

 

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 5 1/2 ounces)
  • 1 cup Steel Cut oats
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
  • 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate minichips

Continue reading Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, and Pecan 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. 🙂

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough-Filled Crepes with Bananas

Food is just as much about the joy of the process as it is about enjoying eating the dish. So when I was sent The Cookie Dough Lovers Cookbook, I was excited to be more whimsical than I usually am when cooking. The cookbook is filled with recipes that incorporate an egg-less cookie dough, which means it is safe to eat it raw. Recipes range from breakfast foods to desserts. The photos are stunning as well, I had a tough time choosing a recipe! What I really love about this cookbook, though, is that it allows your creativity to wander. The recipes listed are probably fantastic as is, but can also work as a base for whatever you want to change. The cookbook is also filled with really helpful tips to successfully complete the recipes inside.

 

I was also asked if I wanted to take part in the Cookie Dough-lympics. Now who in their cookie dough loving mind is going to turn down a chance to be in the Cookie Dough-lympics? The competition is a month long, where me and other food bloggers have adapted recipes within this lovely cookbook. I’m the last (and hopefully not the least) blogger to participate so I hope you’ve had a chance to check out all of the other bloggers creative posts. If not, I have links to their blogs listed below.

 

I decided to make the Cookie Dough-Filled Crepes. I must have had some inspiration from Elvis because I decided to use a peanut butter cookie dough instead of a traditional chocolate chip. I also added some nutella to really make it delicious. I topped the crepes with sauteed bananas to complete my decadent breakfast.
Ingredients:
  For crepes:
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooked to room temperature, plus more for cooking
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  For cookie dough:
  • 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons milk or cream
  • 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • Nutella, to taste
  For bananas:
  • 1 ripe, but still firm, banana
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

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

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