Lesson #180: Chocolate Brownie Cookies

I had a chocolate craving earlier this week! I whipped up a bunch of these cookies, ate two, and stashed the rest in my freezer for later (probably as part of the dessert table for Thanksgiving).

If you are a chocolate lover, these cookies are AWESOME. They are crispy-chewy like a brownie  - but in a cookie form. GENIUS! They are also studded with chocolate chips just in case the semi-sweet chocolate dough isn't enough chocolate for you. :)

LESSON LEARNED: By freezing the dough in a shallow container for 20 minutes, it makes the dough much easier to scoop.

Recipe for Chocolate Brownie Cookies

Lesson #175: Dark Chocolate & Sea Salt Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich

I couldn't resist this combination of sweet & salty in the form of an ice cream sandwich. I've noticed a trend on other food blogs discussing these dark chocolate cookies. I decided to take the recipe up a notch by sandwiching the cookies between ultra-creamy vanilla ice cream. Use the best ice cream you can find - or make your own!

LESSON LEARNED: Refrigerate this cookie dough at least an hour before you bake. I refrigerated it a whole 24 hours before baking...this really allows the flavors in the cookie to develop.

Recipe for Dark Chocolate & Sea Salt Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

Lesson #174: Pumpkin Toffee Cookies

These cookies SCREAM fall! This dessert is a soft & cake-y spiced pumpkin cookie with bits of English toffee scattered throughout.  I made a big batch for my classes last week. I thought I would have enough to share with at least two of my general psychology classes, but they went over so well that my first class ate them all! I've learned that I have to rotate which classes I give treats to. :)

LESSON LEARNED: Around the holidays you can find bags of English toffee bits. If they are not available, break up a bar of toffee.

Recipe for Pumpkin Toffee Cookies

Lesson #165: Chocolate Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies

Whew! I haven't posted for a while, but these cookies are well worth the wait :)

I modified a peanut butter sandwich cookie recipe I made last year to include chocolate hazelnut spread. My brother's girlfriend works at Smucker's in Orrville, OH and she bought me some of their new chocolate hazelnut spread. The cookies are chock full of the spread, rolled in sugar, and sandwiched between a fluffy chocolate hazelnut frosting. YUM!

LESSON LEARNED: Make sure you refrigerate the dough before you bake - it's much easier to roll the cookies into teaspoon sized balls.

Recipe for Chocolate Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies

Lesson #163: Chocolate S'mores Cookies

Because it's nearing the end of summer, I couldn't resist making one of my favorite summertime treats into a bite sized cookie. In fact, at the beginning of summer, I made another version of these cookies! :)

This time I swapped out some of the flour for unsweetened cocoa powder and added a ton of mini marshmallow bits. I rolled out the dough into bite sized balls and took a whole container of cookies with me during my first week of classes. They were quickly gobbled up by my intro to psychology students!

LESSON LEARNED: I never get tired of the combination of chocolate, marshmallow, and graham cracker!

Recipe for Chocolate S'mores Cookies

Lesson #160: Cookie Dough Ice Cream

I've been on an ice cream making kick lately! I guess the ice cream I made for the fair a few weeks ago inspired me to get out my ice cream maker and try a few new recipes. I made a half batch of this ice cream because I thought that Justin would not like the flavor and I didn't (sigh!) want to be forced to eat the whole thing. I was wrong, however, because Justin ate just as much of it as I did. Guess I'll have to get busy making another flavor :)

This ice cream is super creamy with bits of chocolate chip cookie dough studded throughout. The ice cream base combines both brown butter, brown sugar, and molasses to replicate the taste of cookie dough. I thought it was FABULOUS!

LESSON LEARNED: Mix in the bits of cookie dough at the very end of churning so they don't sink to the bottom of the ice cream maker!

Recipe for Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Lesson #150: Snickerdoodle Cookies

Snickerdoodle cookies are one of the classic American cookies. I was thinking about entering these cookies in our local county fair in a few weeks, so I wanted to make a test batch. I made one of my favorite chewy sugar cookie doughs- which I love because it's slightly tangy with the addition of cream cheese- and generously rolled it in cinnamon and sugar. The result is a soft, chewy cinnamon/sugar cookie. I'll let you know if these are winners! :)

LESSON LEARNED: If you make these cookies on a hot & humid day, you may want to refrigerate the dough before you roll it into balls. When I made these cookies, I didn't have to refrigerate the dough, but it was starting to get sticky as I handled it.

Recipe for Snickerdoodle Cookies

Lesson #148: Soft Peanut Butter Cookies

I enjoy peanut butter cookies which are soft, chewy, and rolled in sugar. This is my go-to peanut butter cookie recipe that never fails. I would suggest baking a big batch and keeping them in the freezer for emergency cookie cravings. Yes, they are AMAZING straight from the freezer! :)

LESSON LEARNED: Chill the dough in the refrigerator before baking to keep the cookies from spreading too much as they bake.

Recipe for Soft Peanut Butter Cookies

Lesson #142: Funfetti Cookies

I started teaching a summer class of Introduction to Psychology last week and I wanted to make my students a treat to bring into class. I decided on these cute cookies because they are DELICIOUS and look like a lot of fun. Really, how could you go wrong with adding sprinkles to cookies?

They are basically a sugar cookie with almond extract and sprinkles in the batter. I made them into teaspoon sized balls so they were the perfect snack size. I bought in a few dozen to class and the container was empty by the end of class. That's the way to spice up lectures on research methods in psychology! :)

LESSON LEARNED: Bake these cookies a little underdone and they will firm up as they set. The result is a cakey, soft cookie.

Recipe for Funfetti Cookies

Lesson #137: Mini Rocky Road Cookies

Why are mini cookies so addicting? Possibility because it's easy to pop a few into your mouth! These cookies have the traditional rocky road flavors: chocolate, marshmallow, and almond. This recipe makes a ton of cookies (about 6 dozen if you use a 1 teaspoon scoop), so I guess it's a good thing that they are so easy to eat! :)

LESSON LEARNED: Use marshmallow bits - not mini marshmallows - in these cookies. The mini marshmallows will melt, but the bits stay in tact while baking.

Recipe for Mini Rocky Road Cookies

Lesson #133: Mini S'mores Cookies

These cookies are so darn cute and equally as YUMMY! The base of the cookie is part crushed graham cracker and part flour. Mixed in the cookies are mini chocolate chips and marshmallow bits. The bits are a newer product and remind me of the mini marshmallows found in packaged hot chocolate. They hold up really well in these cookies. Normal marshmallows seem to melt away when they are baked, but these bits worked perfectly. These cookies are incredibly DELICIOUS and ADDICTIVE!

LESSON LEARNED: Mini-marshmallow bits don't melt in the oven!

Recipe for Mini S'mores Cookies

Lesson #128: Chocolate Chip & Cornflake Cookies

I had some leftover cornflakes from another recipe, and I didn't want them to get stale, so I incorporated them into my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.

I know this combination sounds a little strange, but chocolate chips and cornflakes really work together. The cornflakes add a slightly chewy and crunchy texture to the cookies. I would highly suggest adding your favorite cereals to cookies! :)

LESSON LEARNED: Form the dough into balls on a cookie sheet and freeze for about 30 minutes. Then place them in a freezer bag and you have cookies ready to bake whenever you need them (or have a cookie craving!).

Recipe for Chocolate Chip & Cornflake Cookies

Lesson #127: Oatmeal and M&M cookies

In between removing wallpaper, putting up drywall, sanding, and priming the kitchen, I whipped up these cookies. I had extra pastel M&M's left over from Easter (and this caramel corn), so I decided to incorporate the candies into an oatmeal cookie.

I was glad I did! The cookies are crispy and chewy with just the right amount of chocolate. The uncooked dough balls freeze beautifully so you can bake them off as you need them. DELICIOUS!

LESSON LEARNED: Let these cookies cool completely on the cookie sheet. If you try to remove them early, they will fall apart!

Recipe for Oatmeal and M&M cookies

Lesson #123: Easter Sugar Cookies

Happy Easter! I couldn't resist doing cut out sugar cookies for Easter. Cookies in the shapes of bunnies, carrots, and springtime flowers were calling my name as I organized all my baking paraphernalia in the basement of our new house.

One of the great things about moving is being close enough to regularly see family and friends. I was hanging out with my college friend Kielee and convinced her to make some sugar cookies with me. She said she hadn't made roll-out sugar cookies in ten years, so we had fun making these together. Here's a picture of the results and Kielee frosting one of the cookies we made.

 LESSON LEARNED: Plan ahead when you want to make this cookies. The dough needs to chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

Recipe for My Favorite Cutout Sugar Cookies

Lesson #121: M&M Oat Bars

These cookie bars are the perfect SWEET treat. A mixture of oatmeal and chopped pecans are layered with smashed M&M's and sweetened condensed milk, topped with more oatmeal/pecans, and sprinkled with M&M's. They are very colorful and would be so pretty with pastel colored M&M's or whatever seasonal variety is available. The cookie bars were super simple to make - the hardest part was waiting for them to cool before cutting!

LESSON LEARNED: Wait for these bars to completely cool before cutting. They are kind of ooey-gooey - which is super yummy - just really messy to cut.

Recipe for M&M Oat Bars

Lesson #114: Sassy Shamrock Sugar Cookies

I think that I use holidays and seasons as an excuse to work on my cookie decorating skills. This time around I tried to free hand some shamrocks with royal icing. Some of them looked a little off (those didn't get their picture taken!) and some of them were wriggly...so I decided to call them sassy shamrock sugar cookies.

LESSON LEARNED: No matter what these cookies look like, they still taste good!

Recipe for My Favorite Cutout Sugar Cookies

Lesson #107: Frozen S'mores

Last weekend I was in the mood for an ice cream dessert and an involved baking project. I brainstormed for a while and finally decided to make a winter version of a s'more. Because I was looking to challenge myself, I decided to make everything homemade.

Here's the list of what I made from scratch: marshmallows, vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, and graham crackers. Incidentally, I was explaining to my mom that I was making homemade graham crackers and she gave me a look of disbelief :) I replied, "It's really not hard. Just some whole wheat flour, molasses, and honey plus a few other ingredients".   At the finale of my baking project, I was pretty psyched with the end result.

Of course, you could buy some ice cream, torch store bought marshmallows (using a gas flame - we use a big blowtorch because my husband saw what people use on cooking competitions, thought it was cool, and bought me one for Christmas), dollop on hot fudge sauce, and sandwich between traditional graham crackers. I'm sure it's still equally delicious!

LESSON LEARNED: If you make homemade graham crackers, it's best to roll them pretty thin. I baked this batch a little thicker and it was hard to bite into when sandwiched between ice cream.

Recipe for Frozen S'mores

Lesson #106: Toffee-Almond Cookies

I feel like this cookies should come with a disclaimer. WARNING: Once you try one of these cookies, you will feel the urge to eat another (another and another....). Seriously, these cookies are really good. They have a TON of both toffee and almond flavor. The secret is ground almonds in addition to the toffee/chocolate bits in the cookie dough. I originally tagged this recipe because my mom absolutely loves anything toffee, and even though I'm not a huge toffee fan, I thoroughly enjoyed these cookies.

Just to give you a heads up, these cookies have to chill in the refrigerator for about a day before you make them. This helps the flavors develop, but speaking from experience, the raw cookie dough right after it's mixed isn't bad :) Another point to keep in mind is that this recipe makes multiple dozens of cookies. I baked off about half a dozen, portioned out the rest using a cookie scoop, and froze the cookie dough balls. You can bake them up from their frozen state as you need them by adding a few minutes onto the baking time. Enjoy!

LESSON LEARNED: Using bread and cake flour in these cookies result in the perfect chewy, yet tender bite.

Recipe for Toffee-Almond Cookies

Lesson #102: Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies

On Valentine's Day I realized that I had not used my heart shaped cookie cutter this year and thought there was no better time than the present to use it. If I don't make heart shaped cookies around Valnetine's day, when would I make them?

I didn't want to make my typical flat sugar cookie, so I decided to make these super soft sugar cookies. They are light & fluffy and have a yummy powdered sugar frosting on top. I quickly added some red and pink sprinkles on top, and voila, I had some heart shaped sugar cookies just in time for our Valentine's Day dinner!

LESSON LEARNED: Don;t forget to use your seasonal cookie cutters! Hopefully by writing this I'll remember to make my bunny and egg shaped sugar cookies :)

Recipe for Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies

Lesson #101: Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

My father-in-law is unable to eat gluten or diary, but I wanted to include something for him in a care package I sent to my in-laws, so I searched the library for a gluten free cookie cookbook. I love browsing the library (especially the cookbook section) because you never know what you'll find!

I ended up finding a few gluten-free cookie books and chose a recipe that I thought would ship well since the package was going from Cleveland to Atlanta. It was a bonus that this recipe contains no butter or dairy so I didn't have to substitute margarine or oil.

The cookies have a pretty intense peanut flavor due to peanut butter and chopped peanuts. I thought they tasted pretty good and the texture of the cookie was best right after baking. We keep a cookie (after shipping the rest!) in an airtight container to see how the texture changed and they weren't quite as crispy after a day or two. I've modified the recipe to create a small batch, so they can be eaten fairly fast.

LESSON LEARNED: This cookies are best enjoyed right after baking.

Recipe for Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies