Awesome Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hi everyone! Oh my goodness, I'm going to get straight to the point: these cookies are AWESOME!!! There is just no other description... I had pinned this recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything and have been dying to make it! And the wait was totally worth it; these cookies were soooooo chewy, with the right amount of chocolate (which is a whole bunch!). I've tried many different chocolate chip cookie recipes, but this one takes the crown! I just can't rave enough about them, you'll just have to make these and try for yourself. Enjoy! :)
Oh, and I am tempted to tweak the recipe a little bit next time and add some coconut flakes to it.
Update note: I DID make the cookies with coconut (by switching the 2 cups of chocolate chips to 1.5 cups of chocolate chips plus 1 cup coconut flakes), but I didn't really think it made it much better (it was already awesome to begin with...). So would I make these again with coconut? Probably not since I really liked these cookies just as they were. :) If you play around with the chocolate chip/coconut flake ratio and come up with a great combo, let me know by posting below!

Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Makes ~2-3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. 
Using a small ice cream scoop, measure out the cookie dough onto the lined cookie sheets (one cookie = one scoop). Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy (approximately 11-14 minutes). Do not overbake.
Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Recipe adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

Chocolate Mint-Chocolate Cookies

Hi everyone! Remember me? Maybe you don't, since I haven't posted anything in a couple of months... I am so sorry about that; life has gotten so hectic that this blog sort of got put on the back burner. So here I am again, ready to share some more yummy treats!

This treat was made for my future brother-in-law (Brian)'s birthday. Last year I made him some cute penguin cupcakes, and this year he requested a giant cookie with ice cream! He loves the big pizzookies from BJ's and wanted something similar for his birthday. His favorite flavor? Chocolate with mint!!! So I looked around FoodBuzz to see if I could find a good chocolate cookie batter recipe, and found a wonderful recipe at Big Fat Baker, although this recipe had candied ginger. Instead of that, I added my own twist for the mint part: Andie's chocolate mint chunks. I also had some mint M&M's, so I added those too, along with actual chocolate chips. On top of this giant cookie, we placed heaping scoops of mint chocolate ice cream. 

Needless to say, the birthday "boy" was very happy :) Happy birthday Brian!

Chocolate Mint-Chocolate Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

·         1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)

·         1/2 cup brown sugar

·         1/4 cup white sugar

·         1 large egg (room temperature)

·         1 tsp vanilla

·         1 cup flour

·         1/4 cup cocoa powder

·         1/2 tsp baking powder

·         pinch of salt

·         ½ cup Andies mint/chocolate chips combo (or other fillers – white chocolate chips, dried cranberries, chopped candied ginger, nuts, etc)

DIRECTIONS:

1.       Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2.       Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into a bowl; set aside.

3.       Cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes).

4.       Beat in the egg until well incorporated, then add the vanilla.

5.       Mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, then fold in the filler(s) of your choice.

6.       Bake for 7-10 minutes (depending on the size of your cookies) and enjoy!

Adapted from Big Fat Baker

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tonight, I had a big craving for chocolate chip cookies. For a moment (just for an itsy bitsy moment), I thought about being good and just eating some fruit. BUT! I gave in… sigh… Oh well, right?

I made chocolate-coconut cookies yesterday for our Easter gathering and they were a big success! I got the recipe for the cookies from yesterday and the ones I just HAD to make tonight from Vittles and Bits. These cookies were just DIVINE! The smell of fresh-baked cookies all around my kitchen is absolutely wonderful. I already have had a few cookies…

I am sharing with you two recipes: regular chocolate chip cookies and chocolate-coconut cookies. I even made the chocolate-coconut cookies with 2 different kinds of “filling”.

Below is the adaptation I made. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

~makes about 3 dozen

2 C. plus 2 T. all-purpose flour

1/2 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

12 T. (1 1/2 sticks) melted butter, cooled slightly

1 C. brown sugar, packed

1/2 C. granulated sugar

1 large egg plus 1 yolk

2 t. vanilla extract

1.5 C. semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 and melt butter in microwave. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk dry ingredients together; set aside. With electric mixer, or by hand, mix butter & sugars until thoroughly combined. Beat in egg, yolk and vanilla until combined.  Add dry ingredients & beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in chips.
Use a small ice cream scoop (or 2 regular tablespoons) to dispense the cookie dough.
Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft & puffy (10-12 minutes in my oven).
Cool cookies on sheets, until able to lift in one piece. Cool on wire rack.

Chocolate-Coconut Cookies

~makes about 2 dozen

1/2 C. (1 stick) butter

1/2 C. white sugar

1/4 C. light brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 t. vanilla extract

1 C. flour

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

Optional fillings:

1 C. semisweet chocolate chips + 1 C. sweetened flaked coconut   OR

½ C. white chocolate chips + ½ C. dried cranberries (Craisins) + ½ C. Shredded Coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Fold in chocolate chips and coconut. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Recipes adapted from:

- Chocolate chip cookies

- Chocolate-coconut cookies

Chocolate Nest Cookies

Happy Easter Weekend everyone! My family and I will be celebrating Easter at my parents’ house this year. When asked what I wanted to bring to the celebration, I eagerly requested to make the desserts (huh, what a surprise, right?). Anywho, with my husband giving up sweets for this Lenten season, I have been less enthusiastic to make any sweet treats because my #1 taste-tester was out of commission! So all the different ideas/recipes I’ve been wanting to try I have saved up till this weekend, and I am having a baking marathon! Hurray!!!

If you are looking for an easy treat to take to someone’s house (or indulge in yourself) then look no further! This recipe is originally from Carrots n Chocolate and when I first saw it, I couldn’t believe how simple it seemed to be! All you need are 3 ingredients: fiber cereal (I used All Bran by Kellogg’s), milk chocolate to melt, and decorative eggs (I used Mini Robin Whopper Eggs). That’s it! I was super impressed with the simplicity of this treat and at the same time at how cute they look!

Chocolate Nest Cookies

Ingredients:

8 ounces of milk chocolate, melted
7 ounces (about 1/2 box) of fiber cereal (I used All Bran)

1 bag of robin egg look-alike candies (I used Whoppers Mini Robin Eggs)
Parchment paper or plastic wrap

Directions:

1.    Line a cookie sheet with plastic wrap or parchment paper (not an essential step, but it makes clean-up super easy!)

2.    Stir the melted chocolate and cereal together in a bowl until the cereal is evenly coated.

3.    Drop with a spoon onto a baking sheet and form little "nests." This is the tricky step: at first, the chocolate covered cereal does not seem to want to stick together. Trust the process; it all sticks together when the chocolate hardens.

4.    Gently press eggs into each nest while the chocolate is still soft.

5.    Cool in the fridge or at room temperature for about 15-20 minutes – you will see that the chocolate gets hard enough that you can pick up the entire cookie in one piece.

Recipe shared from Carrots n Chocolate