what's in the middle? the white stuff

It was the early '90's and my friend was playing a  a parody song of NKOTB's 'You Got It (The Right Stuff)' by Weird Al Yankovich, but the song was about Oreo's. Now, I'm not a Weird Al fan normally, but I'm tickled by wacky humor and I love Oreo's even more, so this song just gets in my head every time I see those little cookies.

Who doesn't love Oreo's? Those crispy little black and white cookies just beg to be dunked in milk, broken up into ice cream or smashed into a delicious pie crust. But you can't beat a homemade version. Ever.

This recipe is courtesy of the Flour cookbook (I know, I feel like I'm on a bender with this book) and can be made two ways. Bake them for the full 20-25 minutes and you'll have a traditional, crunchy Oreo...or you can be a bit rebellious and under-bake them so that they have a softness to them. There's no wrong way to make them, the point is that you should make them. 

a kiss to build a dream on...

Ok, so I purposefully saved this recipe to be posted around Valentine's Day because it has kisses in the name, and that sounds so romantic, right? Well truthfully, I don't put a lot of stock in Valentine's Day, however I do put stock in anything chocolate and peanut butter, which is why these cookies are ideal all. year. long. And if someone made me these cookies, I think I would kiss them.

These are pretty similar to your typical peanut butter/Hershey kiss cookies, but the peanut flavor is really amped up in this version. First of all, chunky peanut butter is used in the dough, and then each ball of dough is rolled up in chopped honey roasted peanuts.

Let me tell you, it was a real struggle not to eat all the honey roasted peanuts and Hershey kisses. Thankfully, these cookies are easy to make (think 1 bowl) and bake in 11 minutes. So it's not long before you're kissing (and devouring) a chocolatey, melty, chewy peanut buttery cookie.

Enjoy these kissable treats!

forget the cake...

So it's a chocolate cream cheese cookie with chocolate chips and cream cheese frosting on top... are you with me? Yes these are everything you'd want from a chocolate cheesecake, but in a handheld cookie form.

The picture above should really be captioned #lazy (p.s. this video explains my love of the hashtag). Basically, I just plopped the frosting in a ziploc, snipped a corner and bunched the cookies close together so that I could frost all of them at the same time. I mean, they all tasted great so that's really what counts here, right?

giftable cookie

I can't help but wonder why cookies have become synonymous with the holiday season. There are cookie exchange parties, cookie decorating parties, 12 days of cookies... and the list goes on.  I've featured many cookie recipes here and I can't help but sing their praises. I mean, cookies are the perfect dessert in 5 bites or less. They're wonderfully portable. They can be filled, stuffed, dipped, coated in as many flavor variations as you can think of. So maybe for all those reasons, I have my answer after all. Which, of course, means there's more cookie recipes to come!

Earthquake, crackle, snow capped... these cookies have many names (and I've probably made a variation of all of them) but this is the one recipe that is perfection. The dough contains melted chocolate and cocoa powder, giving these cookies a rich chocolatey flavor. And that snowy white crackle top comes from using two different sugars (granulated and confectioner's). They're the perfect soft-on-the-inside cookie with a slightly crispy exterior- just how I like 'em!

super soft

It really doesn't get any better than this. I love a soft, chewy cookie and typically snickerdoodles are only soft on the day they are made. The secret ingredient (it's really no secret at all) is a bit of cream cheese. 

The cream cheese isn't noticeable, and if anything it helps create a bit more tanginess that snickerdoodles characteristically have. Of course these would be wonderful to bring to a holiday party, potluck, Yankee swap, etc. I love bringing cookies to a party because 1. they're portable and 2. who doesn't like a cookie?

chocolate addition

I love pumpkin-flavored baked goods so much, that when I was organizing my recipes, I devoted an entire section to all things pumpkin. It's so convenient having them grouped together, so when I flipped to the pumpkin tab and came across these cookies, I knew I had to showcase them here.

These delicious, cake-like, cinnamon pumpkin chocolate chip cookies contain some of my favorite flavors. I don't know where this recipe originated, just that I had copied it from my mom's recipe box when I was a teenager.

These cookies make four dozen, so they'd be perfect for a bake sale or a Halloween party, and believe me they go fast. 

with a twist of lemon

Citrus desserts aren't necessarily my favorite because I will always pick something chocolate instead. But on a hot day, like when your neighborhood is having an outdoor block party, the idea of chocolate melting all over the place isn't appealing anymore.  

So I made these and one of my neighbors actually asked me if I was Italian because apparently only Italians use Ricotta, and only they can bake the best Ricotta cookies. We all had a good laugh at the thought of my pale, pink skin having any Italian heritage. 

The Santa Plate

Growing up it was a tradition, on Christmas Eve, to make a plate for Santa. My sisters and I would gather some baked goods (typically decorated sugar cookies) and a few carrot sticks (for the reindeer of course) and leave it by the tree with a cup of milk or egg nog.

As we got older we started to know Santa really well and our Santa preferred a glass of milk and graham crackers- he was not a fancy man, our Santa.

In keeping with tradition, I made some sugar cookies recently and thought I'd share the recipe. They make a lot, so whip up some Triple Chocolate Cocoa, invite some friends over and have yourself a cookie decorating party!

(Sugar cookie & glaze recipe to follow)

Raspberry Cinnamon Twist Cookies

These little beauties are technically Rugelach, which are a traditional Jewish cookie, but you don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy these. Even though they are a perfect Hanukah cookie (Hanukah starts the day before Thanksgiving) they are a any-Holiday cookie because cinnamon always feels appropriate for the Fall and Winter, and they make a ton. These would be fantastic for a party, a cookie exchange or to give away as gifts.

This is Ina Garten’s recipe and I really didn’t change much except the filling. She used raisins (which I didn’t) and apricot jam, where I used raspberry.

I’m not going to lie; this recipe is a little time consuming. They’re not hard to make, but rolling out 4 separate pieces of dough and then rolling 50-ish cookies was a little tedious. Also, the dough needs a lot of refrigeration so they’re not an instant gratification cookie. Regardless, they are worth making and even better to eat! First of all, it’s a cream cheese dough. See? Already off to a great start! Secondly, once they’re baked the cookies have a soft, delicate crumb with the sweet tartness of the jam and that cinnamon sugar topping… mmmm…. Yummy!

(recipe after the jump)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Perfection

JacquesTorres is a pastry chef unlike any other- this man can manipulate chocolate into sculpture and art. He is so talented and basically I would make anything he recommended, even something as boring as white rice. I used to watch him, like a million years ago, on the food network. He would make pastries and desserts that seemed impossible to replicate, but so effortless for him (it’s the same feeling I have watching the gymnasts flit around on the narrow beam at the Olympics- they make it look so easy).

This chocolate chip cookie recipe has been around the blog/Pinterest world for a while now. It wasn’t until my friend said I had to try it that I discovered who originally made it- Jacques Torres, who had written it for the New York Times. Done and done. I had to make them. And you know what? He’s never wrong. These cookies are that ideal ratio of crispy outer edges, soft, chewy center, lot’s of chocolate chips and the sprinkle of sea salt on top gives it that salty/sweet wonderfulness. 

This isn’t your typical cookie dough, which is what makes it so perfect. But with perfection you need patience, and there may be few obstacles to overcome. Here are 3 issues I have with this recipe:  1. The flours. Not everyone has cake flour and bread flour stocked in their pantry (these are supposed to help give it that crispy/soft texture-thing) 2. This is not an instant gratification cookie. You can’t spontaneously decide you want a warm cookie with milk for an afternoon snack- it needs to refrigerate for 24-72 hours for the flavors to really develop and the butter to harden. Which leads me to 3. Leaving yummy cookie dough in the fridge for more than 5 minutes is dangerous… I mean, who doesn’t love to eat cookie dough? Sometimes it’s better than the baked version, which may result in fewer cookies than you originally planned on having because someone couldn’t resist a spoonful now and then (not that I speak from experience or anything).

But seriously, get the flours, make the time (try to resist eating all the dough) and make these delicious cookies! I don’t think you’ll regret it.

(recipe after the jump)

Soft Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Sugar Pecan Frosting

These are seriously my favorite pumpkin cookies ever! I saw them here and thought they looked interesting. I haven’t really changed the recipe because it’s pretty much perfection as-is. There's not even a lot of cleanup, just one bowl and a saucepan, taking away any excuse for laziness.

The cookies are not overly sweet and have a really soft, cake-like texture so the brown sugar and butter frosting makes a perfect complement. The pecans aren’t necessary but they do cut through the softness to give the cookie some crunch.

  

this is once the milk has been added

 

(recipe after the jump)

Blog redesign & Taza Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Welcome to my redesigned blog! I’m so happy with how it turned out and I have lots of exciting changes. I’ll be integrating beauty info along with actual recipes of desserts, instead of just posting pictures about them. This format fits my personality and interests and I hope you like it enough to subscribe! Now on to chocolate…

My sister lives near a chocolate factory.... so jealous. It's called Taza Chocolate and is located in Cambridge, MA. It is really unique chocolate because they use a Mexican-style method. This method makes the chocolate slightly grainy because of a larger sugar crystal that doesn't dissolve, so it's not your typical smooth chocolate. Nonetheless, it tastes fantastic. They have permanent and seasonal flavors and they're all in dark chocolate. I think their specialty, and what really sets them apart, are these chocolate discs. They recommend melting them for baking or for making a delicious hot chocolate. 

Taza chocolate discs

Taza has a lot of fantastic recipe cards throughout their store, so I picked up a few and decided to make their Taza chocolate cookies... with my own spin on it, of course. There’s a hint of cinnamon in these cookies, which give it that “Mexican Chocolate” vibe. When I took these cookies out of the oven, my daughter, Ruby, came running into the kitchen sniffing the air saying, “Mama! Chocolate! Mama!”. Yes, I have created a mini-me chocolate loving monster.