It’s a shame that I’ve been blogging for years and have never shared with you the recipe for the best chocolate chip cookie you will ever eat. I’ve been tinkering with this recipe for quite a while now and let me tell you… it’ll knock your socks off. I served it at a baby shower a few weeks ago and literally had ladies begging me with money in hand to sell them the recipe. I promised I would post the recipe soon (for free!) and then promptly forgot. Story of my life.

What makes these cookies the best? It really comes down to so many things. First, the chocolate. Don’t use chocolate chips. Use a bar of bittersweet chocolate chopped into chunks. I prefer to use Trader Joe’s Bittersweet Pound Plus Bar. Microwave it for a few seconds if it’s too hard to chop and it will soften just enough to allow a blade to cut into it. Texture is another important element to any chocolate chip cookie. These are crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside. Perfection. The original cookie recipe on which this cookie is based came from some anonymous source on-line that my mom emailed to me years ago. I’d love to give credit where credit is due, but unfortunately I cannot. The baking techniques are from Pam Anderson’s book The Perfect Recipe. This is one of the few cookbooks and refer to often. The sprinkle of flaked sea salt on top was my own idea, albeit borrowed from hundreds of other such cookie recipes on the web. Altogether, this cookie is phenomenal. And the other great thing about this recipe? You can cook exactly as many cookies as you want to eat that day so you will never have to eat a stale cookie again!

My friend Bridget asked me if I would donate cookies to her school’s fundraising event. One of the challenges of being a food blogger is finding a home for all the desserts that I bake, so these kinds of opportunities are a great excuse to try a new recipe. Bridget specifically wanted me to donate a few already-baked cookies along with a couple of bags of frozen cookie dough so that the lucky winner would not have to eat 4 dozen cookies at once. I flipped through my must-make-cookies and came across this recipe that a friend had forwarded to me months ago.

After reading the directions, I realized that their assembly was way too complicated for me to ask someone else to prepare at home. It involved dividing dough balls into disks, mashing cream cheese between the disks and pinching the dough balls together while hoping that the cream cheese would not ooze out any cracks that formed. A tester batch was in order. I prepared one cookie as directed in the recipe and two cookies with a small amount of cream cheese pressed into the center of the baked cookie. A friend dropped by randomly and we taste tested the results. The cream-cheese topped cookies were a clear winner. My friend declared these cookies some of the best snicker doodles she has ever had. I’m not usually a snicker doodle fan, but I could see why she liked them so much. They are crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and the cream cheese topping is really something special.

As a general rule, my philosophy on dessert is, “If it doesn’t have chocolate, why bother?” These cookies break that rule. My mom makes pecan sandies every year for Christmas. They are lightly sweet, deeply buttery and over-the-top delicious. I am so glad that she shared the recipe with me so that I can share it with you. These are simple cookies to make and they are even easier to eat! They hold up well to give away as gifts. Don’t just bake them at Christmas either! They’re delicious all year long!

I have been making pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for years, but I have never found a recipe that I loved enough that it was worth sharing with you. That changed today, my friends. After tinkering with several recipes, I found that this one packed the most flavor and, if you have a tender hand, it also has the best texture. Not only that, but with a full cup of pumpkin, I think these cookies may actually be classified as a health food.

This was posted by my blogging friend Sherron at Simply Gourmet Photography. Don’t look at her site. Ever. Because if you do, I may lose you forever as a reader, and that would be so sad. It’s just that her pictures are sooooo compelling. Anyway, enough about her. This is about me  you. And these cookies. Let’s get baking.

These cookies are dedicated to Sherron, the blogger at Simply Gourmet Photography. Sherron cannot eat gluten in any form, so I thought I’d make her a cookie that is flour-free.

Let me preface this by saying that I’m a huge fan of flour. I buy my APF in 50 pound bags. I’m also a huge fan of butter. I even did a butter tasting. I panic if I have only 2 pounds of butter in the fridge at any given moment. That said, I don’t often make anything that is gluten or dairy free, let alone something that is gluten *and* dairy free. No one cut the flour out of these cookies to make them safe for Celiac eaters. Saveur just preferred the taste of the cookies without the flour. And when I looked more closely at the recipe, I realized that they’re the only cookies I’ve ever seen that have neither flour nor butter. Cookies with no flour or butter? What will they think of next?

Continue reading: peanut butter cookies (which happen to be gluten and dairy free)

I threw a baby shower for a friend on Saturday. I love making creative and tasty foods, but I am *not* a good theme party hostess because I am terrible at pulling off decorations and games. In fact, I was making up the rules to Saturday’s games as we were playing them. That’s how much of a procrastinator I am when it comes to tackling a project that is not “my thing.” For Saturday’s party, I told the guest of honor that she could depend up me for food and maybe games, but decorations weren’t happening. She is very gracious and was fine with this arrangement. As I was talking with friends about the party, I realized I should at least make *something* that was baby shower themed. Enter these sugar cookies, decorated with a K for their little baby, Kavin.

When I’m not procrastinating, I’m delegating. My friends are in awe of my delegation skills. I’m not sure how one could be in awe of a skill that is essentially passing off one’s work to another person. It’s simply a matter of asking. We had 4 girls from Utah staying at our house this weekend through the www.couchsurfing.org program. As soon as they stepped in the door, I had them roped into decorating these cookies. It’s not that I couldn’t do it. It’s just that they could! And given that they were staying at my house for three days, they weren’t really in a place to decline my request. :)I have made these cookies loads of times in the past. I make them for every major holiday as cookie decorating is a fun way to spend time with family while simultaneously giving your hands something to do. Some sugar cookies puff when baking, meaning your little snowflake can end up resembling a snow cone, but not these! They stay perfectly in place. And as long as your icing is the right consistency, they are so easy to decorate. Or, at least, that’s what my house guests tell me!

I personally don’t eat sugar cookies (what’s the point!? there’s no chocolate!) but I hear from other sugar cookie fans that these not only look delicious, they also taste fabulous. That’s a twofer, folks. Everyone loves a twofer, so make these cookies for your next gathering and watch people ooh and ahh at them and then gobble them up!

salted double chocolate chunk cookies
www.annies-eats.net

8 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. fleur de sel (sea salt), plus more for sprinkling
2 large eggs, at room temperature
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
12 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Combine the 8 ounces of chopped chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Heat until the chocolate and butter are melted and smooth, stirring occasionally.  (Alternatively, heat in the microwave in 25-second intervals, stirring in between.)  In another mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, brown sugar and vanilla.  Beat on medium-high speed until the sugar has completely dissolved, about 4-5 minutes. Set a timer for this. When done, your mixture should be smooth and pale yellow:

Reduce the speed to low and add the melted chocolate mixture, blending until incorporated.  Add in the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.  Fold in the remaining chopped chocolate with a spatula.  Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 2-3 inches apart (I used my medium-sized dough scoop).

Bake, rotating the baking sheets front-to-back and top-to-bottom halfway through, until the cookies are just slightly soft in the center and crackly on top, about 10-12 minutes.  Sprinkle lightly with additional salt and let cool on the baking sheets 10 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Store in an airtight container.

sparkly chocolate cookies
from Cook’s Illustrated

1/2 cup granulated sugar for coating
1/3 cup granulated sugar for the cookies
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/8  tsp salt
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1 large egg white
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
4 oz bittersweet chocolate (either use chocolate chips or you can chop a bar of chocolate into 1/2-inch sized pieces)

Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large (18- by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. Place ½ cup granulated sugar in shallow baking dish or pie plate. Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl. Whisk corn syrup, egg white, and vanilla together in small bowl.

In stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter, brown sugar, and remaining 1/3 cup granulated sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low, add corn syrup mixture, and beat until fully incorporated, about 20 seconds, scraping bowl once with rubber spatula. With mixer running at low speed, add flour mixture and chopped chocolate; mix until just incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping bowl once. Give dough final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that no pockets of flour remain at bottom. Chill dough 30 minutes to firm slightly (do not chill longer than 30 minutes).

Divide dough into 16 equal portions; roll between hands into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Working in batches, drop 8 dough balls into baking dish with sugar and toss to coat. Set dough balls on prepared baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart; repeat with second batch of 8. Bake 10-11 minutes, reversing position of the baking sheets halfway through baking (from top to bottom and front to back), until cookies are puffed and cracked and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft. The cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone. Do not overbake.

Cool cookies on baking sheet 5 minutes, then use wide metal spatula to transfer cookies to wire rack; cool cookies to room temperature.

I have never heard of whoopie pies before, but apparently they’re synonymous with both “Moon Pies” and “delicious.” The latter is a bit subjective, but statistically speaking, it’s true in my trials.

I saw these pies listed on another blog and thought they would be perfect for my students as a “Congrats! You’re almost done with the school year!” treat. Nothing like a little sugar to get their brains going!

I’m cheap, cheap, cheap, so I refused to buy marshmallow creme to make the filling for these. It was $4 a jar at Safeway, and let’s be real… there are a lot of things I could do with $4. So, instead, I spent $6 to buy some corn syrup to make my own marshmallow creme. A half gallon of marshmallow creme. If you’re interested in making your own marshmallow creme, just click on the link below. If you have no idea what I’m talking about when I say marshmallow creme, you’re missing out. This is the stuff of kids’ dreams. Gooey, sticky, sweet, and completely bad for you.

This makes a LOT of cookies. Granted, two cookies makes one whoopie pie, but still! If you can’t think of a use for all these cookies, freeze the cookie halves and then defrost them before slathering with more yummy filling.

chocolate marshmallow whoopie pies
from Annie’s Eats

for the cookies
3½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract

for the filling
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
7½ oz. marshmallow creme
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 400˚ F.  Combine the flour, salt, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder in a medium bowl; whisk together to blend.  Set aside.

Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar.  Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition.

Blend in the buttermilk and vanilla extract until incorporated.  Mix in the dry ingredients, blending just until combined.

Using a 1-oz dough scoop, drop the batter onto the prepared baking pans, 12 cookies per pan.

Bake for 12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.  Allow to cool on the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Repeat with the remaining batter.

To make the filling, place the butter in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, 1-2 minutes.  Blend in the confectioners’ sugar until incorporated.  Beat in the marshmallow creme and vanilla until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.

Once the cookies are completely cooled, match them up in pairs by size. Use a spoon to place a dollop of marshmallow filling onto the flat side of one cookie of each pair, and sandwich the cookies together, pushing the filling to the edges.  Store in an airtight container.