My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

What is it that makes a GREAT chocolate chip cookie? Do you like them soft or crunchy? Is it best when it first comes out of the oven when it is still slightly gooey and warm? Or do you prefer it crunchy on the outside but soft in the middle? Do you pick the cookie with the most visible chocolate chips like my husband does? Do you like yours slightly undercooked? 

Growing up the only chocolate chip cookies that I would eat were the ones that were within the first half hour of coming out of the oven. Store bought? No thanks, not for me. I grew up on the cookies made with the recipe on the back of a Nestle Toll house bag of chocolate chips. I THOUGHT the best chocolate chip cookies were crunchy but slightly soft and gooey in the center... And than I met my husband.

When Sione and I were dating I notice that he would always buy chocolate chip cookies from Subway and he'd put them in the microwave for a few seconds before eating them. When I asked why, he claimed that soft warm chocolate chip cookies were waaay better then crunchy. So a little after we were married I decided I would try and make him some cookies that he would like. That's when I discovered this recipe from allrecipes. It is perfect just the way it is. In fact after eating them I became converted to soft chocolate chip cookies!

The best thing about this recipe is the fact that even though they are soft they are not crumbly at all. They even taste great a day or two after baking (although they rarely last that long in our house). I am always getting requests for this recipe and have been asked to make these cookies for all sorts of occasions. So as requested, I have finally gotten around to posting the recipe on here. 

The dough can also be refrigerated or freezed so you can mix it ahead of time and make yourself a fresh cookie whenever you feel like it. We love making giant cookies and eating it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream for dessert every once in a while! Okay enough of that, here's the recipe:

My Favorite The BEST Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

*makes 4 dozen

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2) Sift together flour and baking soda and set aside

3) Cream together butter and sugars. Beat in pudding mix, vanilla, and eggs.

4) Stir in chocolate chips.

5)Drop spoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. The edges should be  golden brown.

6) Move to foil or cooling rack to cool.

Now go ahead and make these and find out for yourself if  they really are the BEST chocolate chip cookies EVER!

P.S. These cookies are so good that my step-sister who doesn't like chocolate (I know, how is that possible right) will make these without the chocolate chips  and people still love them!

 

Chocolate Covered Oreos (tutorial)

So this month I tried my hand at making these chocolate dipped Oreos. At first I had a hard time with it and than I realized it was just because I was over-complicating it (I blame it on being a perfectionist). Once I realized that, this project became very simple!

To make chocolate covered Oreos all you need is:

• Oreos
• Chocolate melts
• shortening
• fork
• wax paper/foil

Directions:

1) Melt your chocolate melts and about 2 tbs of shortening per bag (directions on bag)

2) put your Oreo into the melted chocolate, use your fork to make sure the entire cookie is covered (I usually need to scoop some extra chocolate to cover the top and sides)

3) Using your fork lift the cookie out of the chocolate and tap the fork gently on the side of the bowl to remove excess chocolate. As you do this the chocolate will also naturally smooth itself out.

4) Place your covered cookie on some wax paper or foil to dry.

*if you wish to add sprinkles, add them before the chocolate dries

*if you want to drizzle a different color chocolate on your cookie to fancy it up wait until the chocolate dries before drizzling.

  

Simple right?! So you are probably wondering how I seemed to over complicate such a simple process. Well as you see in the photo above, the white chocolate on the top two cookies isn't very smooth, here's why. During my first attempt at making these cookies here are all the things I did wrong: dipping the cookies with my fingers, using a toothpick instead of a fork, shaking the dipped cookies instead of tapping, not tapping gently, dipping half of the cookie at a time, and using a knife to spread on the chocolate.

To make a long story short, none of those methods worked and I made a mess.

If you want to make these cute reindeer chocolate covered Oreos just add two Keebler Fudge Dipped Pretzels for antlers, a red M&M for a nose, and two dots of brown chocolate for eyes.

*Eyeball variations: roll tootsie rolls into balls or mini chocolate chips 

Melting Snowman Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Christmas is right around the corner, and nothing says Christmas like snowmen and cookies. But here in Hawaii  since I don't live up in Mauna Kea a snowman sadly would not survive. So these "I'm melting!" Snowmen Cookies are a great tribute to Christmas here in the islands. I've seen similar cookies done before on Pinterest and figured I'd give it a decorating go myself. They are quite cute and tasty if I do say so myself! 
It was also an awesome opportunity to test out a Chocolate Sugar Cookie Recipe and to once again use my new favorite royal icing recipe (I actually feel like I'm a professional decorator every time I use it). I'm not that huge a fan of sugar cookies, but these chocolate sugar cookies are absolutely amazing!!!

CHOCOLATE SUGAR COOKIES:
      Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Dark chocolate cocoa powder
1/8 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. (3 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 large egg
½ tsp. vanilla extract

 Directions:
In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt; whisk to blend and set aside. In another bowl combine the butter and sugar with an electric mixer.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the egg and vanilla.  With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated and no streaks remain.  Form the dough into a disc, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, 1-2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 325˚ F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.  On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out to about ¼-inch thickness.  Cut out desired shapes with cookie cutters and place cut outs on the prepared baking sheet.  Bake 10-12 minutes, just until set.  Let cool on the baking sheet about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Decorate as desired.

Yield: will make 30 1 1/2 inch round cookies, but amount will vary depending on the size of the cookie cutter(s) you use.

*P.S. I made one batch and then 3 more because they taste that good!

I'm working on a few other Christmas craft projects so I'm sorry I've been missing in action for a while. I should be posting up a few more recipes by the end of the year (fingers crossed).

Happy Baking!

Royal Icing Recipe and Thanksgiving Cookies

I discovered an amazing Royal Icing Recipe over at Sweetopia. I've always wanted to be able to decorate sugar cookies like a pro (you know with an icing that would harden and be able to be packaged and given as a gift for any occasion) . And once I discovered the recipe I knew I needed a reason to test it out. I tried as best as I could to wait until after Thanksgiving but I opted out of baking cupcakes for our Thanksgiving dessert and made these cookies instead. They turned out pretty good for my first attempt at decorating.

The Royal Icing hardened perfectly and it even tasted good! I was afraid of it tasting like pure sugar but it has just the right amount of sweetness for me :0) Here's the recipe:

ROYAL ICING RECIPE
Ingredients:
-3/4 C. warm water
-5 Tbs. Meringue Powder (vanilla flavored, if not just add a tsp. of clear vanilla extract)
-1 tsp. cream of tartar
-2.25 lbs.powdered sugar

Directions:
1) Mix water and Meringue Powder together with a whisk until frothy and thickened (about 30 seconds)
2) Add cream of tartar and whisk for about 30 more seconds.
3) Add all of powdered sugar at once and mix at the lowest speed with your mixer using a paddle attachment if available for 10 minutes. The icing will get thick and creamy.

You can now add food coloring (the gel kind is best) or water to get desired color and consistency (I might only add water for icing used to flood cookies).

I'd highly recommend checking out the cookie decorating tutorial over at Sweetopia, she does an excellent job giving tips and tricks for any newbie cookie decorator like me!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, I'm grateful you stopped by! I'd love to see how your cookie decorating turns out if you use this recipe.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

These are similar to the Oreo inspired cupcakes, but I like them better since there isn't as much of the Oreo cream frosting and I figured out a way to add some whipped cream! These were eaten so fast and I wish I had made a double batch so we could have few the next day to snack on. I actually ate four in one day! I used Devil's Food Cupcakes but crushed and added 15-20 Oreo cookies into the batter before baking. Then I put a thin layer of the Oreo cream frosting (half the recipe).

Then on topped that with Whipped Cookies and Cream Frosting and a bite size Oreo to finish it off!

Whipped Cookies and Cream Frosting

Tastes just like Cookies and Cream ice cream. I have a sister who does not like chocolate or Oreo cookies, but won't hesitate to eat this Frosting straight from the piping bag if I let her!

Ingredients:
~6-9 Oreo cookies
~2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
~3/4 Cup powdered sugar

Directions
First crush around 5-6 Oreo cookies in a food processor (make sure they are finely crushed if you will be using a piping bag to be sure no cookies get stuck in the tip while piping). Beat heavy whipping cream and sifted powdered sugar until stiff. Once you have a nice stiff whipped cream, fold in crushed cookies. So simple and so yummy, I love it!