Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Winter has arrive in NC. We had snow and cold temperatures this weekend, so what better weather for baking cookies? 

Notes: These came out great. I have been loyal to a different cookie recipe for a long time and these may just be my new favorite!

I adapted these from this recipe. I'm a fan of chewy chocolate chip cookies, but these were supposed to be a mix of chewy and crispy. I replaced the shortening in this recipe with butter, in part because I don't have shortening and in part because shortening makes cookies crispier. 

If you use salted butter, just omit the salt from this recipe.

Don't like nuts? Just sub out another cup of chocolate chips. 

The dough was dry after I chilled it, so I ended up balling it up in my hands before putting it on the trays.

The original recipe calls for baking them at 375, but my oven runs hot. I knocked the temperature back for the second batch and that worked better.

Ingredients:

2 sticks (16 tablespoons) of unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup pecan pieces

Directions: In a stand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt together until the mixture is light and creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated. 

With the mixer on low, add the flour and mix until it's about halfway incorporated. Add the chocolate chips and the pecan pieces and mix until everything is incorporated.

Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour and up to 24. 

Heat the oven to 350. Drop the cookies onto two sheet trays, about 2 inches apart. Bake for between 18-20 minutes until light golden brown. Remove from the trays and cool the rest of the way on a rack. Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Coffee Cookies

Do you need a reason to make cookies? Of course not.

Notes: I love coffee desserts, so these are cookies after my own heart. Everything about them is delicious.

If you like your cookies sweeter, you could use regular chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet.

Some nuts in here would be great, too, if you're so inclined. Just add a 1/2 cup of your favorite when you add the chocolate chips.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon coffee grounds
1/2 cup prepared coffee
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 egg

Directions:

Melt butter in the microwave. In a stand mixer, add butter and both sugars and mix on medium speed until well combined. Turn the mixer to low. Pour in coffee and add egg. Add in the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, coffee grounds, and salt). Mix until just combined. Gentely fold in the chocolate chips.

Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour.

Heat oven to 350. Scoop large tablespoons of dough onto two parchment or foil lined cookie sheets. Bake for 15-18 minutes until the outsides look dry.

Enjoy--with milk or coffee!

Cobbled-together Chocolate Chip Cookies

Friday night I decided I wanted chocolate chip cookies. I had not planned to make them, but I did indeed have chocolate chips in the house, so at that point it was just a matter of forming the cookie base. I was running low on several things, so none of my standard cookie recipes were going to work. So, I did what any good impulse baker would do: I improvised.

Notes: Much to my surprise, I didn't ruin these. Lately, I've some how been screwing up my normal cookie recipes. Too much butter, I think. I am also notorious for screwing up oatmeal cookies of any sort, so the fact that I put oats in these was inviting disaster. But the combination of flour, oats, and refrigeration worked.

These cookies have a nice nutty flavor thanks to the oats and the peanut butter. They are also chewy thanks to the oats and brown sugar. They have a mild sweetness as well, so if you're trying to cut down on sugar, these are for you.

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
2 heaping tablespoons peanut butter
1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Melt the butter in the microwave and pour it into the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Add in the brown sugar and beat on medium for a few minutes until well-combined. Put the mixer on low and add in the egg, applesauce, and peanut butter. The mixture will look curdled, but that's normal.

Stir in the flour, oats, and baking soda until just combined. Then fold in the chocolate chips.

Refrigerate the dough for at least one hour.

Heat the oven to 350. Spoon tablespoon-sized balls of dough onto two cookie sheets. Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy your cobbled-together cookies!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

For some reason I cannot stop baking. Once the semester winds up, I'm sure I'll slow down. In the meantime, I will enjoy it while I'm in the mood!

I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I love Halloween. It's my favorite holiday BY FAR. I look forward to it every year even if I don't have anything special planned. Scott and I will often just watch classic horror movies to celebrate.

In spite of my love for Halloween, I don't have very many Halloween-themed dishes. I had some leftover pumpkin and I thought I might test these out as a Halloween dessert recipe. I think they would work.

Notes: I tried to chill the dough and make shapes using my cookie cutter. That didn't work out so well. I think the dough would have to chill for much longer than an hour for that to work. If you're game to try it, spread the dough out on a cookie sheet after it's mixed. Try chilling for 2-4 hours. See if it works for you. Otherwise, the regular shapes are fine.

These are great. Full of fall flavors!

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, softened
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips (I like the mini ones)

Directions:

In a mixer, cream together butter and sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Stir in the pumpkin, milk, and vanilla (it won't incorporate completely, but that's OK).

In batches, add in the dry ingredients (spices, flour, baking soda, salt) until everything is just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 325. Spoon large tablespoons of dough onto a cookie sheet (bake in batches if you need to). Bake for 14-17 minutes until the edges are set and the cookies look a little dry. Cool them on the cookie sheet for a few minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack. Enjoy (on Halloween or any time)!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been on quite the baking kick, but I haven't made any cookies. We can't have that, now can we?

Photo courtesy of Scott Photography

Notes: I have to make these in two batches. I can fit about 6 cookies on a baking sheet (don't want to crowd them) and I put two baking sheets in the over at once. Just stick the batter back in the fridge while you're waiting for the first batch to cook.

I had a little bit of coffee leftover from this morning's brew, so I just used that. You could try just whipping up a little instant if you have it. Otherwise, just omit it.

These came out so light and fluffy in the middle. I have no idea how I did that, but they were delicious!

Ingredients:
1 2/3 cup of flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup white or raw sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons prepared coffee
2 sticks of butter, softened
2 cups mini bitter sweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Directions:

Cream the butter and sugar together in the mixer. Add in milk, coffee, and vanilla and stir (it won't really incorporate, but that's OK). Add in the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Add in the chocolate chips and fold them into the batter.

Refrigerate the dough for 1-2 hours.

Heat the oven to 325. Spoon the dough (in over-sized tablespoon balls) onto two cookie sheets and bake for 14-17 minutes until the edges look dry and are set. Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

VTMK: Applesauce Molasses Cookies

I'm teaching a seminar this semester. It's an upper level course mainly for majors and upperclass students. Seminars last four hours, which is a long time to be in class. As such, we have a tradition of "seminar breaks." Seminar breaks involve food.

Since the first day of school is tomorrow, I'm in charge of the snacks for break. I originally made some chocolate chip cookies, but Scott loves them so much, I decided to let him keep them. Instead, I decided to try some vegan cookies. A lot of my students are vegan nowadays, and even if they're not, a lot of them have food allergies. Vegan recipes leave out a lot of the things that cause people trouble. Hopefully these will go over well!

Notes: I followed this recipe pretty closely, but I spiced the cookies up a little differently. I also baked mine a little longer. If I had to do it over, I would have used regular sugar for rolling, but I only had raw sugar. You don't notice that much of a difference.

If you like gingerbread, you'll like these.

Ingredients:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons molasses
1/4 cup applesauce
small bowl of granulated sugar for rolling

Directions:

Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl (flour, baking soda, spices, salt, brown sugar). Whisk them together. Make a well in the center. Add all the wet ingredients into the well (molasses, oil, and applesauce). Stir everything together. When it starts to form a solid mass, you may just want to switch to using your hands and gently knead it together. Chill the dough for an hour.

Heat the oven to 350. Pour some granulated sugar in a small bowl. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and roll the balls in the sugar. Put the balls 2-3 inches apart on a cookie sheet (you'll need two sheets -- the cookies will spread).

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until the sides are set and the tops are little moist. The cookies will be puffy, but they'll flatten out as they cool. Cool them on the baking sheets for 10 minutes. Move to a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!

Gingerbread Cookies

So. Things have gotten a bit off schedule.

Life has been a little complicated in the professor's kitchen of late. Sadly, my day job took up a lot of time last term (the injustice of it all!!!!). I can't promise I'll get the blog rolling like it does during the summer, but let's hope 2013 turns out to be better for a lot of reasons.

Right before Christmas, I decided I desperately needed gingerbread cookies. I was hoping to make old fashioned gingerbread, but unfortunately most of recipes I found made somewhere along the lines of 900 pounds of cake. I mean, I like gingerbread and all, but most of it was probably going to go to waste.

I opted for cookies instead. I would have rather had chewy cookies, but these were tasty enough that I didn't mind the crunch. I took my leftovers to work and they were snapped up fast.

Notes: I adapted my recipe from this one over at Smitten Kitchen. It wasn't my intention to roll and cut them, but I ended up doing it anyway because the dough was so cold. I used the only cookie cutter I have, which is an owl. So, Christmas owls? Well, why not.

You can make this dough a day ahead and chill it overnight, which is handy.

Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour (plus more for rolling out the cookies)
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon cloves
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup molasses

Directions:

In an electric mixer (or using a whisk and a lot of elbow grease), cream the butter and brown sugar together. Beat in the egg and the molasses. Whisk together all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then add them into the mixer in batches of three.

When the dough is finished, lay out two pieces of plastic wrap. Divide the dough in half, putting each half onto a piece of plastic wrap. Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap it up, and chill for two hours.

When you're ready to bake the cookies, heat the oven to 350. Take one dough disc out at a time and roll it out on a floured surface until it's 1/4 an inch thick. Cut your shapes and lay them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Once you're done with one disc, put the baking sheet back in the fridge while you roll out and cut the second disc.

Bake the first sheet for 12-14 minutes until the cookies are crisp, but not darkened. While the first sheet it baking, chill the second sheet.

Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool. Store them in an airtight container between wax paper. They should last five days to a week. Enjoy!

Spelt Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Who bakes cookies in the hottest part of the heat wave?!

The impulse baker does.

That's right, kids, she strikes again. I was piddling around online when I suddenly remembered that we had a giant can of oats in the cabinet. Scott normally makes oatmeal for breakfast, but since it's been hot, he's been eating granola.

You can't have oats just sitting around in the kitchen, waiting to be added to chewy delicious cookies, can you?!?

Notes: I replaced some of the flour in this recipe with some cornmeal. It added just the tiniest little crunch. So good!

 I used my new favorite egg replacement (1 tablespoon chia seeds mixed with 3 tablespoons of water) in these. Worked like a charm.

Ingredients (slightly adapted from this recipe):
1/2 cup spelt flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 cup oats
8 tablespoons softened butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup raisins
1 tablespoon chia seeds + 3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions: Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Add butter and sugar to the mixing bowl and cream them together. Mix together chia seeds and water and set aside. Add the raisins to a small bowl and cover with water (so that they plump up).

Add the flour, baking soda, cornmeal, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt together in a bowl and stir them together. To the butter and sugar, add vanilla and chia seed mixture. Add in dry ingredients a little at a time until everything is combined.

Stir in the oats and raisins. Spoon tablespoon-sized balls of dough on to two cookie sheets, leaving about 2 inches between cookies. Bake them for 10-12 minutes until the bottoms and edges are golden brown, but they're still slightly doughy on top. Cool for five minutes on the the hot baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack.

It's never too hot for cookies! Enjoy!

Spelt Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's been awhile since I did some baking, so how about a cookie recipe?

As I've mentioned, I'm an impulse baker. I was at the store today picking up a few things. I ducked into the baking aisle by mistake. Once I saw the bags of chocolate chips, it was all over.

When I got home, however, I realized that I only had about half of the amount of butter that my normal Alton Brown recipe calls for. Where others would get discouraged and decide to bake another time, the impulse baker taps into her inner chemist. Since I couldn't use my normal recipe, it was the perfect time to experiment.

Notes: These cookies are perfectly suited to my taste. I don't like cookies that are too sweet and these are just right.

Because it calls for whole wheat flour, the batter will likely be drier than you're used to. If you think it should be a little more moist, add more milk -- maybe four or five tablespoons instead of two.

Normally, I'm not specific about ingredients, but I highly recommend using natural peanut butter for this recipe. I only buy natural peanut butter, which is why I used it. Regular peanut butter may have a different oil content than natural peanut butter, which will mess with the fat content in your batter. If you want to experiment, be my guest, but just be aware that you might end up with cookies that spread out in the oven more than you're expecting.

This makes a whole mess of cookies, so be prepared to share!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of spelt or whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
8 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted
8 tablespoons of natural peanut butter (either smooth or chunky)
2 eggs
2 tablespoons of milk
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups of semi or bitter sweet chocolate chips (I used mini)

Directions:

Melt your butter in a small sauce pan. While the butter is melting, add the brown sugar and peanut butter to your mixing bowl (I used my stand mixer). In another medium bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

Once the butter is melted, add it to the sugar and peanut butter. Beat them together on medium speed until they are well incorporated and the mixture starts to thicken. Add your eggs one at a time, incorporating each one into the batter. Beat in the vanilla and the milk. Finally, add your dry mixture in stages. Once the last of the flour is mixed in, stir in the chocolate chips.

Refrigerate the dough for one hour.

Heat the oven to 325. Scoop the cookies onto cookie sheets. They should be the size of a heaping tablespoon or a small meatball. Bake for 14-17 minutes until the bottoms are golden brown and the edges are light golden brown. Allow them to cool 5 minutes.

Serve with a nice glass of milk and enjoy!