Category Archives: cookies

cookies, Sweets, Uncategorized

Chewy Funfetti Chocolate Chip Cookies

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For a livestream with food network, I decided to make a funfetti cookie dough cake! I’ve shared my go to vanilla cake batter (which I added chocolate chips to), and my edible cookie dough recipe, but needed to share my funfetti chocolate chip cookie recipe! These cookies are soft, chewy, and oh so colorful! This recipe is a modification of Pinch of Yum’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe.

Funfetti Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough:

  • 3/4 cup melted butter (just above room temp)
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 light brown sugar
  • 1 egg, room temperature
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup sprinkles
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cream together butter and both sugars, using a paddle attachment or hand mixer. Mix in the salt and vanilla on a low speed. Mix in the egg, just until combined. Add the flour in two installments, mixing on low until the dough comes together. Gently fold in chocolate chips and sprinkles with a spatula.

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Allow the dough to chill in fridge for about 15 minutes. Scoop and shape 1 inch balls of cookie , and gently press onto a lined cookie sheet (I used a silicon baking mat!). Bake for roughly 12 minutes, until the edges are just beginning to brown. Remove and allow to cool for 10 minutes before transferring from baking sheet. And ENJOY!!

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Cakes, cookies, Tutorials

Nutella-Filled Cookie Cake

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This cake has everything a person could want…a Nutella filling, thick, chewy cookie layers, and an ice cream cone topper!! It’s definitely an indulgent cake, but sometimes you need to treat yourself 🙂 If you’re a visual learner,  you can watch me make this cake here.

Chewy Cookie Layers:

  • 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar (preferably dark brown sugar)
  • 1 large egg and 1 egg yolk
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups  all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1 large jar of Nutella + 1/2 cup heavy cream (filling)

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line and grease two 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper. Place a 2 inch metal circle cookie cutter in the center of each of the pans. Set aside. Combine the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside. In a medium bowl, mix the melted butter and brown sugar sugar together until smooth. Whisk in the egg, vanilla, then the egg yolk. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or rubber spatula. The dough will be very soft, yet thick. Fold in the chocolate chips. Evenly divide the dough between the cake pans, filling the pans around the cookie cutter while leaving the center unfilled. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until golden brown and fully cooked through.

If you don’t have metal cookie cutters, you can bake normal cookie layers, and cut out the centers once baked.

Allow both cookie layers to cool fully. While these cool, prepare the frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:

  • 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 8 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1 waffle cone (decoration)
  • sprinkles (decoration)
  • green and blue gel food coloring (optional)

Beat the butter on medium-high speed until creamy. Reduce the speed to medium-low and slowly add the vanilla and salt. Add powdered sugar, in 4 installments, until it has all been incorporated. Mix in a VERY small amount of the blue and green gel food coloring (I mean a drop at a time), until desired color is reached. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for another minute. Once you’ve made the buttercream, you can move onto the last aspect of this cake, the chocolate ganache! We’ve saved the best for last.

Chocolate Ganache:

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Place the cream into a microwave-safe bowl. Heat on high for about 45 seconds (until its just beginning to bubble). Gently pour chocolate chips into the cream, and let sit for two minutes. After this, stir until the mixture is fully incorporate. Place in the fridge for about 15 minutes to allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.

Once the cakes are fully cooled, assemble the cake. place a small dab of frosting onto the surface you will be using to serve the cake, to secure the cake. I always use cardboard cake centers, but this can be done on a cake stand or plate as well. Place down one cookie layer, and frost the top with buttercream. Place a cookie layer on top of this, and frost the top of the layer again. Also frost the center cut out of the cake. Cover the exterior of the cake with a thin layer of buttercream, and smooth with an offset spatula and/or cake bench. Heat up Nutella and 1/2 cup heavy cream in a heat-proof bowl for 30 seconds in the microwave. Mix until fully combined, then pour into the center of the cake, filling fully to the top.

Place in the fridge or freezer for 10 minutes to allow the frosting to set. While chilling, scoop some buttercream into the ice cream, and shape into large ball. I find doing this in stages, and putting the cone into the freezer between additions of buttercream allows me to get perfect ice cream scoop shape.

Remove from fridge/freezer, and apply a thick coat of frosting (about 1 cm). Smooth, and place in the freezer again. Once fully shaped, use a dab of buttercream to secure the cone to the cake, upside-down.

While the second layer of frosting cools, pour the room temperature ganache into a squirt bottle of some sort (I use a cheap diner-esque clear ketchup bottle from Amazon). Take the cake out of the freezer, and place the ice cream cone upside down in the center of the cake. Squirt ganache over the frosting “ice cream scoop”, and allow it run down, until the entire scoop is covered. Then squirt ganache over the entire top of the cake, leaving about an inch of frosting uncovered. Spread the ganache evenly with a smooth utensil (knife, frosting spatula, etc.), and work it out to the edges of the cake, so that the entire top of the cake is covered. Next, gently drop ganache down the edges of the cake. Start slowly, as you can always make bigger/longer drops as you go, but you can’t take back an epic stream of ganache (trust me, I’ve learned the hard way).

The finishing touch is sprinkling the ice cream cone with sprinkles of your choice.

cookies, Sweets, Uncategorized

Soft-Batch Oreo Funfetti Cookies

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You can never go wrong with cookie on cookie action, and the crushed birthday cake Oreos and sprinkles in these cookies really take them to the next level. The secret to keeping them soft and chewy is a touch of cream of tartar. Sounds strange, but trust me on this one.

Cookie Dough Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter,  room temperature
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar (MUST INCLUDE!!)
  • 1/2 cup sprinkles
  • 1/2 cup crushed or finely chopped oreos (centers included!)

In a large bowl, cream the softened butter for about 1 minute on medium speed. Add the sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla, scraping down the sides of as needed.

Add in the salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Mix until just incorporated. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the flour to the butter mixture 3 different parts. The dough will be quite thick. Lastly, add in 1/2 of the sprinkles above (reserving the rest for later), and the crushed oreos. Mix on low until the sprinkles/oreos are evenly distributed throughout the dough.

Scoop and roll about 3/4 inch cookie dough balls. Chill the balls of dough on lined cookie sheet for at least 2 hours ( I use silicon baking mats, but parchment would work fine too). This helps keep the cookies chewy, as it prevents them from spreading too much while baking!

Preheat oven to 350F. Bake the chilled cookie dough for about 7 minutes. The cookies will appear undone and soft, but will continue to bake and firm up while they cool on the baking sheet. I pressed a few pieces of crushed oreos onto the top to these cookies once they’d been out of the oven a few minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes, then move them to wire rack to cool completely.

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cookies, Holiday Treats

Swirled Brownie Chocolate Chip Cookies

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I really struggled with the name of this post. They’re basically a brookie, since they’re part brownie, part cookie. But when I hear brookie, I think of cookie cups or bars…and these beautiful swirled cookies deserved a different name! This recipe combines the two cookie batters, a decadent brownie cookie batter, and a browned butter chocolate chip cookie batter. Two balls of each dough are rolled together to create these wonderful swirled cookies. The recipe I used listed below.

Brownie Cookie Dough:

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 large egg (room temperature)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 Tablespoons whole milk
  • 1 cup dark chocolate chips

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough:

  • 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
  • 1 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon plain greek yogurt
  • 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup dark chocolate chips

Yield: 36 cookies

First, make the browned butter cookie dough. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. The butter will begin to foam. Make sure you whisk consistently during this process (or else little bits on the bottom of the pan will burn!). After a couple of minutes, the butter will begin to brown on the bottom of the saucepan; continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. Immediately transfer the butter to a bowl to prevent burning. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.

With an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, vanilla, and yogurt until combined. Add the dry ingredients slowly and beat on low-speed just until combined. Gently fold in all of the chocolate chips. Allow dough to chill dough for 2 hours.

Next, make the brownie cookie dough. Cream the butter and sugars together with a hand or stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom as needed. Beat in the egg and vanilla until combined, scraping down the sides as needed. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly mix it into the wet ingredrients. The dough will be quite thick. With a rubber spatula, mix in the milk and then fold in the chocolate chips. Allow this dough to chill for about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line cookie sheet with silicone baking mat or parchment paper (I prefer a silicone baking mat!). Measure 2 Tablespoons of browned butter cookie dough, and roll into a ball. Take 2 Tablespoons of brownie cookie dough, and roll into a ball. Swirl the two balls together,rolling them into 1 large ball. Repeat for each cookie. The chocolate cookie dough will stick to your hands, so wash/wipe them as needed throughout the process. It is important the chocolate cookie dough is chilled, or else it will be even harder to handle.

Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes. The cookies will be soft and barely set, but they will continue to set and bake as they cool on the baking sheet. I like to press a few more chocolate chips into the top of the cookies when they are still warm, to make them prettier.

I got tired of swirling together cookie balls towards the end of the process, and make one giant swirl cookie for fun. I use two tennis ball sized portions of dough, and baked for about 20 minutes.

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These cookies last up to 10 days in an airtight container.

cookies, Holiday Treats, Uncategorized

Giant Christmas Cookies

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Happy Holidays! Now that it’s finally December, I figured it’s time to make some giant Christmas Cookies. For the cookie base, I used my favorite browned butter, chocolate chip cookie recipe. I mixed in some Christmas chocolate chips (had no ideas these existed until a week ago!), a couple handfuls of Christmas M&Ms, and snowflake and gingerbread man sprinkles, and the cookies were transformed into festive Christmas cookies!! I’m positive Santa would approve 😛

Cookie Dough Ingredients:

  • 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
  • 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoon plain greek yogurt
  • 1 cup Christmas chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup Christmas M&Ms
  • Holiday sprinkles (I used snowflake and gingerbread man sprinkles)
  • 6 chopped up peppermint Oreos
  • Peppermint kisses (for decoration)

Servings: 8 Giant Cookies (or 20 regular sized cookies)

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Chill Time: At least 2 hours

Bake time: 9-10 minutes

Begin by browning the butter. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat, until it begins to foam. Make sure you whisk consistently during this process. After a couple of minutes, the butter will begin to brown on the bottom of the saucepan; continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. Immediately transfer the butter to a bowl to prevent burning, and let it cool.

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With an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars. Beat in the egg, yolk, vanilla, and yogurt until combined. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt,  and beat on low-speed just until combined. Gently fold in all holiday mix-ins using a spatula. I used some Christmas colored chocolate chips, Christmas M&Ms, holiday sprinkles, chopped peppermint Oreos, and peppermint kisses 🙂 Make sure you don’t add in more than two cups of mix-ins, or else the dough will be overloaded!

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Chill your dough overnight, or AT LEAST 2 hours. This allows the dough to absorb the flavor of the brown butter, and results in a chewier, thicker cookie. Trust me, don’t skip this step!!!

The following morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. For giant cookies, form cookie dough balls with about 3 tablespoons of cookie dough. Place the cookie dough balls onto a greased cookie sheet about 4 inches apart, and gently flatten the dough with your hand. Bake the cookies for 15-18 minutes, until the edges just begin to brown.

If you want to make regular sized cookies, use 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough, and place cookie dough balls 2 inches apart. Bake for 9-10 minutes.

I made a few giant cookies, and a dozen normal sized cookies.

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Let the cookies cool on a wire wrack. After they’ve been out of the oven for about 10 minutes, press a few additional chocolate chips and peppermint kisses onto the tops of the cookies. Once the cookies are fully cooled, they can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week.

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Cakes, cookies, Sweets

The Parent Trap Cookie (PB Oreo Cookie)

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I’ve baked a lot of cookies lately, but the same types of cookies. You can only make so many browned butter chocolate chip cookies before you start day dreaming about new flavors, new mix-ins…new anything! That’s how I came up with this recipe. I took one of my favorite soft chocolate chip cookie recipes, added in some peanut butter, a little extra flour, and a ton of Oreos, and vua lah! Was this idea heavily influenced by the Parent Trap? Yes. Yes it was.

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough:

  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1.2 cup creamy peanut butter (I used Skippy’s)
  • 1 and 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup crushed Oreos
  • 1/4 cup peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line and spray an 8-inch cake pan with nonstick spray, and set aside.

In a large bowl using a mixer (hand or stand), beat the butter at a medium speed until completely smooth. Add the brown sugar, and beat on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Mix in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla on medium-high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, as needed.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, until just combined. Add 1 and 1/4 cups chocolate chips and 3/4 cup of the crushed Oreos into the mix. Gently stir the ingredients with a spatula, until the ingredients are evenly dispersed.

Press the cookie dough evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cake is lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and set the pan on a wire rack to cool for about 30 minutes. Once mostly cooled, press the remaining Oreo pieces, peanut butter chips, and chocolate chips onto the top of the cookie. Let the cake cool for another 15 minutes, then use a spatula to loosen the sides of the cookie cake from the pan, and remove from the pan.

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I may have bitten off more than I could chew 😛 And yes, my nails do match my cookie!!

cookies, Sweets

Double Stuffed Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies

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I am constantly trying to reinvent the chocolate chip cookie. It’s not that I can’t enjoy a classic chocolate chip cookie, because I can. Give me a tall glass of cold milk and warm chocolate chip cookie, and I’m a happy girl. But when I think about chocolate chip cookies, I think of them as a blank canvas. Tonight, the driving inspiration was left over cookie dough, and copious amounts of double stuffed Oreos. It started with a couple handfuls of white chocolate chips and Oreo chunks being tossed into my KitchenAid, and ended with some Oreo truffle centers. I was pretty pleased with the end result, and think that this recipe is a keeper 😛

Cookie Dough:

  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
  • 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk (at room temperature)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups gall-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Oreo Truffle Center:

  • 1 package double stuffed Oreos (36 cookies)
  • 1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line two large cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Divide all Oreos, and remove the centers. Place the cookies in a food processor, and crush until fine crumbs remain. Set aside 1/2 cup of the crumbs. Add in the softened cream cheese, and blend in food processor until the cream cheese is fully incorporated. Shape into 3/4 inch balls, and refrigerate.

In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter for about 1 minute on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the brown sugar, and beat on medium speed until creamy. Mix in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla on medium-high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. On low speed, slowly mix the dry ingredients  into the wet ingredients, until combined. The cookie dough will be pretty thick. Add the white and semi-sweet chocolate chips, and the reserved 1/2 cup of Oreo crumbs. Mix on a low speed for about 5 seconds, until evenly disbursed.

Using a cookie scoop, make 1.5 inch cookie dough balls. Flatten the cookie dough in you palm, and place the cold oreo truffles in the center of the flattened cookie. Shape the cookie around the truffle, making sure it is fully sealed. Place 2 inches apart on lined baking sheet, and bake for 9-11 minutes, or until the edges just begin to brown. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then remove and place on a wire rack to finish cooling. These cookies freeze well, and last several days if stored in an air tight container.

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The cookie will continue to bake once it’s removed from the oven, and will firm up as it cools. I prefer my cookies on the soft side, and took them out of the oven at the first hint of brown on the edges of the cookie (9 minutes).