Maple Bacon Cookies

Nothing like friends sharing a recipe with you! My running friend, Sarah, (who has a lovely blog y'all should check out: The ImaginariYUM) posted this recipe to my facebook page last week. Earlier that day I was thinking about the next type of cookie I should bake. It was like Sarah KNEW what I was thinking. (Although, I'm thinking about cookies A LOT, so it was a good guess.)

 

My boyfriend and I had a chili cook-off to attend on Saturday. So while he was busy making his chili, I was busy whipping up these cookies. His kitchen was a hotbed of activity and yumminess.

 

I really enjoyed baking the bacon for this recipe. Yes. BAKING the bacon. Brushing maple syrup over bacon strips that were arranged on a wire rack on top of a cookie sheet was weirdly theruputic. It took longer for the bacon to cook in the oven than the recipe said, but after 35 minutes, it was perfect. The dough of the cookie is very sweet with all the maple syrup and brown sugar that was called for,  but the addition of salty bacon complimented it so well. It's like pancakes and bacon made love and birthed this cookie. People at the chili cook-off said the cookies were delicious and that they wished they had a cup of coffee to go with it.

 

Cookie Success! (Oh, and my boyfriend got first place in the cook-off. Chili Success! Maybe we should open up a restaurant!)

Maple Bacon Cookies recipe can be found here: refinery29

Bake well and prosper!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies because of Winter Storm Juno

When people in NYC hear of an impending blizzard, they rush to the store and buy wine and food such as meat, cheese, bread, and veggies to sustain them for a couple of days. I rush to the store and buy wine and chocolate chips.

A big blizzard was predicted to hit NYC last night and this morning. You can read all about it elsewhere.

(SPOILER ALERT: It didn't happen.) 

 

In preparation for being stuck inside due to snow, I decided to make this Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie recipe. It's been in my "recipes to make" folder for almost two years! I've been avoiding super sugary and dense recipes recently, but something about the middle of winter and snow had me craving both these characteristics.

 

The blog that posted this recipe had problems with the cookie dough sinking to the middle of the brownies. So I looked for other options. I decided to do half pan, half muffin pan to see which worked the best.

Unlike the Pinch of Yum's blog post, I used a "from scratch" recipe and baked the brownies in the 4x4 pan for ten minutes before adding the cookie dough. This helped immensely! No sinking dough! And still a gooey brownie. (Altogether it was in the oven for about 40 minutes.)

 

As for the muffin pans, I put both the brownie batter and the cookie dough in at the same time. This worked smashingly as well! (Altogether it was in the oven for about 30 minutes.) 

 

If you like gooier brownie, go with the 4x4. If you like a more solid brownie, go with the muffin pans. Either way, this recipe is sure to please the brownie and cookie lover in your life!

I used my favorite Supernatural Brownie Recipe for the brownies and I used A Pinch of Yum's suggested cookie recipe. I got the muffin pan idea from Very Best Baking by Nestle.

Bake well and prosper!

Gooey Butter Cookies

I've finally been getting around to my "Recipes to Make" Pinterest board. These Gooey Butter Cookies always caught my eye while visiting my Pinterest boards. Their bright and cheerful yellow color piqued my interest.

Guess what! You just have to use a yellow cake mix to get the yellow color.

This recipe is very simple to put together and is a huge crowd pleaser. These look a little like biscuits but taste like a cake with a slightly firm exterior. What's not to love about a dessert with the labels "cookie, cake, butter"?! Every one at the party I went to (a Festivus Party...yes, FESTIVUS) loved them. (As did I seeing I ate so many of them!)

Gooey Butter Cookies

recipe found by clicking here: How to Nest for Less

Bake well and prosper!

Dark Chocolate, Pistachio, and Sea Salt Cookies

The first cookie you make in the new year should be this one. Seriously. Dark chocolate chunks mixed with pistachios and slight saltiness all in a cookie?! Incredibly good.

 

Maybe the fact that I baked these in my boyfriend's new oven helped with making these cookies my favorite of 2014. These were one of those desserts that I didn't want to share. I wanted to eat them all by myself. It's been a while since I've felt that way about something I baked. Usually I'm more than happy to share the sweet calories, but I wanted to hoard these.

 

But I did share. And I strongly suggest you share these in 2015. They are a crowd pleaser! (That is if you can resist eating them all by yourself!)

 

Have a happy and tasty new year!

Dark Chocolate, Pistachio, and Sea Salt Cookies
Recipe found here: Two Peas and their Pod

Bake well and prosper!

Orange Pecan Icebox Cookies

I made these lovely cookies at the beginning of December and then forgot all about the pictures I took of them. It was a nice surprise to see them in my blog post cue. It was like I was tasting the intricate flavors of these orange pecan icebox cookies all over again.

These cookies are "adult" cookies. No, it's not because they have alcohol in them. As one friend asked, "Is it because they don't contain chocolate or tons of sugar?" Exactly! As a kid I would have passed these over for more chocolatey types. But now that I'm SLIGHTLY older... I love these! I love how the orange and butter flavors blend well together while the pecans help enhance that mixture. If you still have time to bake for Christmas and you have a lot of "older people" visiting, I suggest you consider making these delightful cookies.

Orange Pecan Icebox Cookies
recipe found here: One Perfect Bite

Bake well and prosper! 

Stained-Glass Christmas Cookies

Hello! I can't believe Christmas is a couple of days away. I've been baking tons this month but just haven't had the time to blog about my creations!

This weekend I went to THREE parties all within 24 hours of each other. Tis the season...to be exhausted.

The first party was a surprise birthday party for my dear friend Doug. Doug likes lemony treats. In the past I've made the normal lemon bars etc, but I wanted to do something special this year.

I saw stained-glass cookies on the Chew last week when I was visiting family in AZ. I figured Lemon Heads would work well in the middle of these cookies. I was right. I also added lemon frosting on the edges and sprinkled edible glitter on the frosting. I was feeling so Martha Stewart-y...

Speaking of being a crafty home-maker, I made Christmas cards again this year.

I'm already receiving lovely feedback from the folks who received them so far. Yay!

 

These cookies were very yummy and pretty, but fair warning: the middle is VERY hard seeing it's made of melted hard candy. Don't chip a tooth!

Stained-Glass Christmas Cookies

recipe found here: recipes.com

Bake well and prosper!



White Chocolate Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Wow! The name for these cookies is quite a mouthful! White Chocolate Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. Say that five times fast.

 

As you can see, I haven't baked in a really long time. I just haven't felt like it. Also, most of my precious free time has been spent AWAY from the kitchen (and on dates with my boyfriend. Aw.)

 

But the holidays are upon us and I felt like baking (not to mention it's cold here in NYC so turning the oven on is quite nice.)

I wanted to make something with peanut butter and then I saw this White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter and decided that I had to try it as the base for cookies. It's really sweet so I added chunks of dark chocolate on top to even out some of the sweetness from the white chocolate.

 

They are pretty good, but in the long run I prefer regular ol' peanut butter. What can I say? I'm a traditionalist.

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

You can find the base recipe here: rachelschultz.com

Just substitute white chocolate peanut butter for the peanut butter and then add dark chocolate chunks or normal chocolate chips

Bake well and prosper!

Dark Chocolate M&M Cookies

I was going to make chocolate chip cookies. I WAS. But my brother called while I was on my way to the store to buy chocolate chips. I told him what I was up to and he told me about how he made cookies with dark chocolate m&ms.

My ears perked up. My taste buds were excited. Dark chocolate m&ms?! My plan quickly changed and I bought those instead of chocolate chips. Seeing that my brother's a pastor, maybe his phone call was a divine intervention? ;)

I used my trusted chocolate chip cookie recipe and wasn't let down. The cookie monster inside me rejoiced while eating these cookies. 

Do not worry. I didn't eat all of them. I shared! I know...I'm a nice person. These cookies hit the spot with their buttery and dark chocolate candy goodness. Maybe you won't want to share them...

Dark Chocolate M&M Cookies (adapted from My Mom's Best Recipe Book)

1 stick butter

1/2 cup of white sugar

1/4 cup of brown

1 egg well beaten

1 cup and 2 Tablespoons of flour

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

6 oz of dark chocolate m&ms

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix butter, sugars, and egg together until well incorporated. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together and then stir in batter until well mixed. Stir in vanilla. Add the m&ms. Place dollops of dough on a cookie sheet with room between each dollop. Bake 8-10 minutes. Remove when edges are barely tan for softer cookies.

Bake well and prosper!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been running a lot again this summer. I'm not training for much over 6 miles and yet every weekend for the past month I've run at least 8 or more miles in one go.

Yay me. (Silly me is more like it.)

But more running means my metabolism is slightly cranked up and sometimes I want to eat food. No, not just eat. SCARF food. I want the food to GET IN MY BELLY.

This feeling especially happened after running 12 miles two weekends ago. Even though I had a hearty brunch after my run, in the afternoon I needed more food. And my stomach told me it wanted cookies.

I did a quick inventory of ingredients and then decided that whatever I made needed to have protein in it. Thus, these nicely plump Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies were born.

They were delicious and just what my tummy ordered. I ate a handful that evening and then about a dozen the next day.

*hanging head* It's true...

But that just goes to show how yummy I found this mix of peanut butter, cookie, and chocolate. (Or just how much my metabolism was ignited!)

 Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe found here: allrecipes

Bake well and prosper!

Chocolate Cherry Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

Are you like me? Do you get excited when it is cherry season and grab a huge bag  of them? Then you realize that it actually takes awhile to get through that bag? And then you start to worry about how you'll finish them before they go bad?

 

If you aren't like me, well, I guess I applaud you. If you ARE like me, then put your worries aside. Cherries go great in desserts. This is a universal truth. Like ketchup makes everything taste better. Except Ketchup.

Well, here in Pittsburgh I finally got into a kitchen with an oven. (THREE ovens actually!) It was so nice to be back in a kitchen and creating delicious creations like these cookies. I found a recipe and added some things and took out others and the results were magic. Using cherries in their raw form (not dried) brings a pop of freshness and juice when you bite into these. The mixture of coconut, chocolate, and oatmeal makes for a wonderful base to deliver the tart/sweetness of the cherry. All the folks in my Summerfest program here in Pittsburgh agreed that these were amazing.

 

So, if you have cherries that need to be used, try this great recipe!

Chocolate Cherry Coconut Oatmeal Cookies (adapted from What's Gaby Cooking)

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup shredded coconut

1 cups old-fashioned oats

2 Tablespoons chocolate powder (hot chocolate mix works)

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup diced cherries

In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugars via stirring or electric mixer.. Mix together for 2 minutes until the sugars are incorporated. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. Add the flour, baking soda, sea salt and baking powder and slowly combine, making sure not to over-mix the batter. Add the coconut, oats, chocolate powder, chocolate chips, and cherries. Gently fold them into the dough. Refrigerate batter while oven is heating.

 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Place small scoops of dough spread out 12 times onto each parchment lined baking sheet. Transfer sheets into over and bake for 14-16 minutes until the cookies slightly turn golden brown on the edges but are still soft and chewy in the middle. Remove from oven, transfer to cooling rack. Repeat process for remaining dough. Cool for a little bit and then enjoy!

Bake well and prosper