Tag Archives: chocolate

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

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 It seems like everyone hates Mondays, but I think Wednesdays are the real problem. On Monday and Tuesday, I just had a weekend, and on Thursday and Friday, I’m anticipating another. But on Wednesday, I’m just stuck in the middle. It’s torture. The idea that there are two more days until I can sleep in again is almost too much to bear 😭

Anybody else feel the same way?
 Perhaps, this Wednesday, you could use a cookie. A really big, puffy cookie full of peanut butter and chocolate, and super chewy from oats and brown sugar. Yes. That might make Wednesday worth surviving.

These Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies are super easy–perfect for a little weeknight baking session. All the ingredients are things you probably already have. The cookies turn out big and puffy, even though there’s no chill. And it doesn’t make a huge batch: only about fifteen cookies. That’s just enough to get you and your family through til Friday 😊 

We start by creaming together softened butter and peanut butter. I recommend using creamy peanut butter. Where most oatmeal cookies spread from the butter melting in the oven, the peanut butter in this recipe keeps these cookies puffing up instead of out. This is because peanut butter doesn’t have a fat content as high as butter’s. But don’t use just any peanut butter. The natural variety is simply too thin and runny to make these cookies anything but flat, and possibly lacy. With the thicker peanut butter, these cookies puff right up. I use Jif in my baking, but use whatever you like, as long as it’s thick.

Once the butter and peanut butter are fluffy, cream in the sugars. These cookies require one part granulated sugar, and two parts dark brown sugar. This will give the cookies a bit of molasses flavor and, with the addition of an egg, will keep everything moist and chewy. A little vanilla rounds out the flavor.

Next come the dry ingredients, a simple combination of flour, baking soda, and salt. Then, the oats! These will make everything nice and chewy, which contrasts sooo well with all the puffiness from the peanut butter! And then there are the chocolate chips, which of course, are perfect with peanut butter. They may have a little bit of a hard time incorporating into the dough, but just press them in. They’ll stay. 

 The dough is scooped in two tablespoon increments, rolled, and baked for about ten minutes. They puff up to be huge. The outsides get golden and crispy, and the insides stay a little underbaked and ultra-peanut buttery. The oats make for a ton of chew and texture. And of course, there’s a ton of melty chocolate!

My favorite way to enjoy these Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies is with a cup of coffee or tea, or crumbled over vanilla ice cream. No matter how you enjoy them, they’re sure to remedy any case of the mid-week blues! 

 Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
makes about 15 medium-large cookies

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
6 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together butter and peanut butter until smooth, about one minute. Add sugars, and beat until light and fluffy. Add egg, followed by vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, and salt, followed by oats. Fold in chocolate chips.

Scoop dough in two tablespoon increments. Roll into balls and set on prepared pan at least two inches apart. Bake for 9-11 minutes, until puffy and no longer raw looking. Let cool on pan for five minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely.

Cookies will keep covered at room temperature for up to one week. 

No-Churn Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream

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 I know. I know! Who makes ice cream in February?!

But I have three very good reasons:

1. It’s been in the fifties and sixties multiple times since last weekend’s deep freeze. In NYC, that’s practically June.
2. Until last week, I hadn’t had a freezer bigger than a shoe box in three years. I had to have something to put in it!
3. I wanted ice cream. 

But what kind of ice cream? My two favorite flavors are Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Mint Chocolate Chip. I hadn’t been able to keep either at home for so long, making that decision just seemed impossible. 

But what about a combination of the two? A rich vanilla-mint ice cream stuffed to the gills with bits of edible mint chocolate chip cookie dough? And no-churn (because I don’t have an ice cream machine)? That would do the trick. And so, I got to work.

This ice cream is so easy, it’s stupid. Anybody could make it. The most difficult part is being patient for six hours while it sets in the freezer. The base is made entirely of sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream, a combination that sounds like it shouldn’t work at all, but it totally does. The sweetened condensed milk (you guessed it!) sweetens the base, and since it’s condensed, it keeps ice crystals from forming while the ice cream is freezing. It also adds a little richness. The heavy cream is whipped and then folded into the sweetened condensed milk. This makes everything super creamy and light-textured, and ensures that the ice cream is scoopable. Add a little vanilla and freeze it, and you have some fantastic homemade vanilla ice cream.  But we’re not after vanilla ice cream today. No, this is first-ice-cream-in-three-years ice cream. This is exciting ice cream!

 Okay, maybe I’m being a little over-enthusiastic.

In this recipe, the sweetened condensed milk is flavored with vanilla and just a bit of peppermint extract. The whipped cream is folded in, followed by 1/2 cup of miniature chocolate chips. Then comes the best part: little pieces of eggless edible cookie dough flavored with a bit more peppermint and filled with more miniature chocolate chips. I dyed mine green to go with the mint chocolate chip theme (and because I think it’s cute), but food coloring is optional. Freeze it in a loaf pan, and scoop away!

So, who cares if it’s February? And who needs an ice cream machine? With this No-Churn Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream, the answer is “nobody.” 

 No-Churn Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream
makes about 8 cups

Edible Cookie Dough:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons milk of choice
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract*
3-5 drops liquid green food coloring, optional
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour*
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips

Ice Cream:
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk (not fat free)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract*
2 cups heavy cream, cold
1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips

Put a 9×5″ loaf pan* in the freezer to chill.

Make the edible cookie dough. In a medium mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream butter and granulated sugar together until light and fluffy. Add milk, vanilla and peppermint extracts, and food coloring, and beat together until completely combined. Add in flour and salt. Mix until combined, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Add mini chocolate chips and mix until well-dispersed. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Line a pan with wax paper. Remove dough from refrigerator. Scoop dough by the 1/2 teaspoon and roll into balls. Place rolled dough into wax paper-lined pan. Dough balls may touch–this is okay. Once all dough has been scooped and rolled, place full pan in freezer for an additional 15-30 minutes.

Prepare the no-churn ice cream. Pour sweetened condensed milk into the bottom of a large mixing bowl. Whisk in vanilla and peppermint extracts. Set aside.

In a separate mixing bowl, beat cream with an electric mixer until it holds billowy peaks, about three minutes. Slowly fold whipped cream into sweetened condensed milk, being careful not to deflate it too much or overmix. Fold in miniature chocolate chips.

Remove the frozen loaf pan and the dough balls from the freezer. Spread half the sweetened condensed milk mixture in the loaf pan. Top with half the dough balls. Spread the second half of the sweetened condensed milk mixture on top, followed by the remaining dough balls. Use a table knife to stir the cookie dough balls around. Cover the pan with two layers of plastic wrap, pressing it onto the surface of the ice cream. Wrap covered pan with aluminum foil. Chill six hours or overnight before scooping.

No-Churn Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream keeps well covered in the freezer for about two weeks.

Notes:

1. Make sure you are using peppermint extract. Mint extract is not the same thing.
2. If you have concerns about eating raw flour, I suggest microwaving the flour for one minute, then letting it come back to room temperature before mixing.
3. Do not be tempted to use more than 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract in the ice cream base (or the cookie dough for that matter). Peppermint extract is very potent, and can easily make things taste like toothpaste if too much is added.
4. If you’d rather not use your loaf pan for this recipe, you may use another container with an 8 cup capacity. I recommend a glass Tupperware.

Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry Cookies

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 I am one of those people who loves Valentine’s Day. Yes, I know it’s more of a greeting card holiday than anything else, but I just don’t see anything wrong with setting aside one extra day to acknowledge all the love we have in our lives. I know we’re supposed to do that everyday, but it’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of real life and forget to be grateful.

It’s not just a day for couples. Romantic love is like nothing else and I’ve been fortunate to experience it, but the idea that it’s all that matters on Valentine’s Day (or any day) is just false. As far as I’m concerned, Valentine’s Day is about taking a little extra time to show love and gratitude to everyone you hold dear. My mom sends me a valentine every year (and is actually visiting over the holiday this year!), and my best pal, Tad, is always my valentine. And as a nanny, I have a bunch of little valentines, too. And since it’s impractical (and a little silly) to buy gifts for everyone I love, I think I’ll just hand out cookies instead.

No Valentine’s Day treat is more iconic than chocolate-dipped strawberries, but because fresh fruit coated in chocolate simply isn’t my thing, I’ve taken the simple combination and made it into these fabulous cookies. Since its February, strawberries aren’t in season. Even if they were, putting juicy fresh berries in cookie dough would result in cakey cookies, which are a travesty as far as I’m concerned. If I want something cakey, I’ll have a piece of cake! When it comes to cookies though, I want them to be soft and chewy. 

 So, how do we get tons of strawberry flavor into cookies without using fresh berries or artificially-flavored cake mix? With freeze-dried strawberries! You might recognize them as those crunchy berries in your breakfast cereal. They’re just fresh strawberries that have been completely dehydrated–no sweeteners or artificial stuff, just pure fresh strawberry flavor! I get mine at Trader Joe’s, but they can be found in most well-stocked grocery stores. Simply put them in a food processor or blender and blitz them into a fine powder. If you don’t have either kitchen appliance, place them in a gallon-size zip-top bag and use a rolling pin to crush them. Then, mix the gorgeous pink powder into a soft drop sugar cookie dough. Chill it for a little while and then bake for just a few minutes, until the cookies are just starting to turn golden. 

 For the chocolate dip, you’ll just need good-quality chocolate chips and the tiniest bit of coconut oil. I use Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate chips here because I find that they melt more smoothly than most other brands. The coconut oil helps to give the chocolate a little sheen, and also helps it firm up. Coconut oil naturally solidifies at temperatures below 76F, so once the chocolate dip on these cookies sets, it will stay that way until it’s time to eat them. I like to dip each cookie halfway, but think these would look gorgeous drizzled with chocolate, like on my Almond Joy Cookies {Grain-Free}. I like to top the still-wet chocolate dip with sprinkles…because sprinkles. Aren’t these little hearts adorable?

Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry Cookies would be wonderful for gifting or parties, and of course, keeping in the cookie jar to share with someone you love. And who doesn’t love cookies? I think they’re my valentine this year.

  
Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry Cookies
makes about 3.5 dozen cookies

Strawberry Cookies:
1 1.2-ounce package freeze-dried strawberries*
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3-5 drops liquid red food coloring, optional*

Chocolate Dip:
1 1/2 cups good-quality semisweet chocolate chips*
1/2 teaspoon coconut oil
sprinkles, optional

In a food processor or blender, process freeze-dried strawberries until they are a fine powder. Transfer the powder to a large mixing bowl. Add flour, cornstarch, baking powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt, and whisk to combine. Set aside.

In a separate large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat softened butter until light and fluffy. Beat in granulated and light brown sugars, followed by eggs, vanilla, and optional food coloring. Add dry ingredients in three installments, scraping the bowl as necessary. Cover dough with plastic wrap and chill for 90 minutes, or up to three days.

Preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Scoop dough by the tablespoon and roll into balls. Place dough balls at least two inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until no longer wet-looking and starting to turn light golden. Let cool on baking sheets for five minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely.

Once all cookies have been baked and cooled, make the chocolate dip. In a double boiler or the microwave, melt chocolate chips and coconut oil together. Stir until smooth. Dip each cookie halfway into the mixture before placing back on the rack. Top with sprinkles, if desired. Chocolate dip will solidify after a few hours at room temperature, or after 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry Cookies will keep covered at room temperature for up to a week.

Notes:

1. I use Trader Joe’s brand freeze-dried strawberries.
2. The cookies pictured have three drops liquid red food coloring.
3. I use Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate chips.

Double Chocolate Fritos Cookies

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 I love being from Texas. I do. I love barbecue and big skies and Willie Nelson and Texas Rangers baseball. I would wear cowboy boots every single day if they weren’t so quickly destroyed by the streets of New York. May my busted Noconas rest peacefully in the back of the closet.

But the one thing that I’m really supposed to love almost as much as God and family? The one thing that Texans love so much that there’s an Emmy-winning TV series about it? Football? I can’t stand it. Total snoozefest for me. My parents and sister-in-law live for it, but I just can’t get into it. As such, I have no clue who is playing in the Super Bowl this Sunday, except that it’s not Tom Brady. Sorry, Boston friends 😭

But for everything I don’t understand about football, the one thing I love is the food. Platter after platter of salty, starchy, cheesy everything? Now that’s my kind of Sunday evening. But for all the wings and pizza and artichoke dip, I often find a distinct lack of dessert. Not that dessert is necessary after all that heavy food, but come on. The Super Bowl is supposed to be a celebration, right?! And celebrations demand dessert! Or at least they do in my kitchen. 

Enter these Double Chocolate Fritos Cookies. No, your eyes are not deceiving you. These cookies contain both chocolate and Fritos. If you’ve never tried chasing Fritos with chocolate chips, you are missing out. The salty, crunchy corn chips with sweet, melty chocolate are to. die. for. These cookies have a soft chocolate cookie base that has the taste and texture of fudgy brownies–make sure to try one warm from the oven! The cookie itself and the super melty chocolate chips…just do it. And the Fritos! They soften just slightly from the moisture in the cookie dough, but they retain a lot of crunch. They add so much chewy texture to these cookies! Their signature saltiness is somewhat masked by all the chocolate, but that’s easily remedied with a sprinkling of coarse sea salt. Yum.

This recipe is super simple to put together, and it makes a lot of cookies (four dozen). If that seems like too many for your get together, let me say this: they will get eaten. Trust me. After the smorgasbord of cheese that is game day food, these sweet, salty, crunchy, chewy chocolate cookies will be a welcome end to the party. No matter who gets the trophy on Sunday, these Double Chocolate Fritos Cookies will definitely be winners 😊 

 Double Chocolate Fritos Cookies
makes about four dozen cookies

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder*
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup dark brown sugar*, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups lightly crushed Fritos
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
coarse sea salt, for sprinkling*

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat softened butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in granulated sugar and dark brown sugar. Beat in eggs followed by vanilla. Add dry ingredients in three installments, mixing after each addition. Fold in Fritos and semisweet chocolate chips. Cover dough with plastic wrap and chill for 90 minutes or up to three days.

Preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats. Scoop dough by the tablespoon and roll into balls. Place dough balls at least two inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Bake 8-9 minutes, or until the cookies look just slightly underdone. Let cookies cool on baking sheets for five minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

Cookies will keep covered at room temperature for up to a week.


Notes:

1. Do not use Dutch process cocoa powder.
2. Light brown sugar may be substituted.
3. I use Trader Joe’s Pyramid Salt.

Almond Joy Cookies {Grain-Free}

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 Do you ever get sudden cravings for treats from your childhood? Once or twice a year, I’ll get a craving for Fruit Roll-Ups or Gushers or Dunkaroos (may they rest in peace) that I just can’t shake. I spend days agonizing over these junk foods I haven’t had since my mom was packing my school lunches, and then once I finally give in and eat a fruit snack or a tiny tub of frosting, it’s never as good as I want it to be. And the worst part is that I’ve wasted perfectly good calories on processed food, when they could have gone to something waaaaay better, like Cocoa Brownies or Dark Chocolate Pecan Butter.

Last week, I got a craving for Almond Joys seemingly out of nowhere. I spent far too many waking hours thinking about little pillows of coconut topped with whole almonds, all covered in dark chocolate. Never mind that I hadn’t had one since my grandmother passed in 2001. On Thursday, I walked into the deli on our block prepared to give in and buy what was sure to be a disappointing candy bar. The Almond Joy of my daydreams was sure to be full of sticky, mealy coconut, slightly-soft almonds, and cheap chocolate in reality. Just as I was preparing to fork over four quarters and what’s left of my dignity, I saw a jar of almond butter behind the counter. And because I have a perpetual case of baker’s brain, my mind immediately went into overdrive. I thought about the classic three-ingredient peanut butter cookie recipe, but made with almond butter. Dotted with coconut and covered in chocolate, they’d be like a grown-up Almond Joy in cookie form. And high in protein and grain-free, so I would feel less guilty about eating three in a row. I got to work, and let me tell you, these cookies are way better than any store-bought candy bar could ever hope to be. 

Almond Joy Cookies bear a lot of similarities to the Easy Nutella Cookies I posted earlier this month. They are both made primarily of nut butter, eggs, and sugar, and are totally grain-free (and therefore gluten-free). This recipe is super simple, but does require some precision in the mixing. As in every cookie recipe, each ingredient has a job. When the recipe has no grains, like this one, those ingredients have to be backed by some serious technique, or the results will send you running for that disappointing candy bar! Here are a few tips to make these cookies as awesome as possible.

Beat the bejeezus out of the egg. I mean, get your electric mixer out, crank it to high, and beat the egg for at least two minutes. The egg will serve to give our cookies structure. If the egg is simply scrambled, we’ll have flat cookies. So beat the egg until it is really, really, REALLY frothy and much lighter in color. This way, our cookies will be nice and puffy. Also, make sure your egg is room temperature, so it takes in air easily.

Use brown sugar, but not too much. Sugar may come in a dry bag, but it’s actually a liquid ingredient. It’s mixed into dough as crystals, but it starts melting on contact with fat and eggs, and fully caramelizes in the oven (which is why most cookies are golden brown). If there is too much sugar in a recipe, the cookies will spread like crazy because of the molten excess liquid. This recipe only calls for 2/3 cup light brown sugar, so our cookies will only spread a little. Don’t worry, they’ll still be sweet! Also, brown sugar keeps things extra moist thanks to the molasses. This will make our final results nice and chewy 😊 

Don’t use almond butter that separates. There are a million brands of almond butter on the shelves these days. You may have noticed that some of them have a layer of separated oil on top. Do not use any of those in these cookies, unless you are ready for a mess! I recommend creamy-style (like Trader Joe’s) or no-stir almond butter (like MaraNathra). Still give whatever you use a good stir, just to distribute all the fat evenly. The almond butter is the other half of the structural dream team. Along with the beaten egg, the almond butter will serve to keep these cookies from becoming flat, oily puddles of sadness. It also provides the flavor base, along with a touch of almond extract, some vanilla, and coconut. Your dough may still feel a little oily while you are rolling it. Don’t worry–just let the excess oil drain off a bit. Your finished cookies will not be greasy.

Baking powder is non-negotiable! Some of the three-ingredient peanut butter cookies out there don’t call for leavening. Peanut butter is pretty thick though, so they still get big and puffy. Almond butter, on the other hand, is thin, so we need a bit of baking powder to keep these cookies rising up instead of spreading out!

Whew!  

   
 
Once all your cookies are baked, melt some chocolate chips and coconut oil, and drizzle it over the cookies with a squeeze bottle or a fork. I like to drizzle twice because, hello, chocolate! I made these in two different sizes for no other reason than I felt like it 😊 I have included instructions for smaller cookies in the notes below. Now, go forth and resist the candy bar! Instead, make cookies that will live up to your childhood memories! 
 Almond Joy Cookies {Grain-Free}
makes 21 medium cookies*

1 large egg, room temperature
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 cup creamy-style almond butter, measured in a dry measuring cup*
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350F. Lay a cooling rack over a sheet of wax paper. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats. Set aside. 

In a large mixing bowl, use and electric mixer to beat the egg until very frothy and lighter in color, about two minutes. Add the light brown sugar, vanilla, and almond extracts, and beat for one minute. Add the almond butter, salt, and and baking powder, and mix until completely combined. Fold in coconut.

Scoop dough by the tablespoon* and roll into balls. The dough may feel oily. Set dough balls at least 1.5 inches apart on prepared pans. Bake for 9-10 minutes, until the cookies have puffed up a bit and no longer look shiny. If the cookies are too domed, tap the tops with the back of a spoon. Let cool on the pans for five minutes before removing to the prepared rack.

While cookies are cooling, melt chocolate chips and coconut oil together in a double-boiler or the microwave. Use a small squeeze bottle or a fork to drizzle cooled cookies with chocolate. Chocolate will set after several hours at room temperature, or within thirty minutes in the refrigerator.

Cookies keep covered at room temperature for up to a week.

Notes:

1. Alternatively, this recipe makes about five dozen very small cookies.
2. I used MaraNathra No-Stir Almond Butter. Do not use almond butter that separates.
3. If making very small cookies, scoop dough by the teaspoon. Bake for 7-8 minutes.