Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Again with the chocolate. I know. I have a problem. But it is such a delicious problem. It's double chocolate. Chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips... oh my! I'll take chocolate in nearly every concoction conceivable. I search for chocolate recipes to try. This one here though, I didn't have to search for. This recipe I bought and brought right into my home. Years ago, this recipe used to be on the back of Nestle's white chocolate chips, but then they replaced it. It was so good that I searched for it so that I could make them again. Here's Nestle's recipe: White Chip Chocolate Cookies. These cookies are amazing. They are so soft and the texture is almost like a brownie, but the white chocolate add a wonderful flavor. The only improvement I made to the original recipe is some instant espresso to intensify the chocolate flavor.

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2-1 tsp instant espresso
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
12-oz. pkg. white chocolate chips



Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, espresso, and salt.



Beat butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy.



Add eggs and vanilla extract; mix well.



Gradually beat in flour mixture.



Stir in morsels.



Use a 1-inch or 1.5-inch cookie scoop to portion cookies onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet.



Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until centers are just set. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. These cookies will be very soft for a while, but they set more as the cool, so do not overcook them.

Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

There's not much that evokes memories of childhood and can make you salivate at the same time... but chocolate chip cookies fit the bill. I grew up making chocolate chip cookies with my daddy, and it's one of my fondest memories. I found a recipe several years ago that I tweaked a little that became my Triple Chocolate Cranberry Cookies - and I get a lot of compliments on that cookie. So, I decided to tweak it some more this past Christmas for my chocolate chip cookies that I make every holiday season, and I was hooked! They came out amazing. Dark chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, pecans, and a little espresso in intensify the chocolate, and oh my goodness!

1 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsps baking soda
2 tsps cornstarch
1 tsp salt

1 tsp instant espresso
9-10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
9-10 ounces dark chocolate chips
1 cup nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium-sized bowl mix the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, salt and espresso.

In a large bowl or a stand mixer, cream the butter, sugar and brown sugar.

Add the eggs and vanilla; mix well.

Add the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. Add the chocolate chips (and nuts if using them; I prefer pecans in chocolate chip cookies) and stir until evenly distributed. Here's the tip with the chocolate chips - you can use a whole bag of both semi-sweet and dark chocolate, and they are still pretty good. However, there just didn't seem to be enough "cookie" around the chips, so I cut it back to about 3/4 of each bag, and I loved it. Add to your taste.

Use a 1.5-inch cookie scoop to portion cookies on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

I use my index and middle finger to very lightly flatten the tops of the cookies. That helps them bake more evenly and creates a flatter, less rounded top.

Bake cookies 8-10 minutes until just starting to brown at the edges. The tops will likely still look doughy (as shown below).  This is not a bad thing. This will give you beautifully soft pillowy chocolate chip cookies.

Remove cookies from the oven and allow to rest on the cookie sheet about 5 minutes until the cookies set (they will still be warm though). Remove to a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy a warm, soft, pillowy, super melted chocolatey, amazingly delicious cookie! Store in an air-tight container.

Roasted Cauliflower

If you want to entice your children to eat their veggies, then you can't find much of a better option than caramelized roasted cauliflower. My daughter could eat most of a head of cauliflower all by herself. It is that good. And you're going to want to try this. There is so much flavor in this cauliflower, and the caramelization just puts it over the top.

Cauliflower
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Paprkia
Garlic Powder
Lemon Pepper Seasoning

Preheat oven to 400 degrees if cooking the cauliflower by itself. You can also use whatever temperature the rest of your dishes use and adjust the cook time accordingly. Cut off the green and stalk of the cauliflower, and then cut the cauliflower into florets.

Lightly coat the cauliflower with olive oil.

Evenly sprinkle the spices over the cauliflower, and then use your hands to toss it and ensure the spices are covering each piece.

Place the cauliflower in a foil-lined dish, and bake until caramelized until your liking. I prefer much darker caramelized pieces; my husband likes his much lighter. Start checking it about 30 minutes and pull it to your taste.

Lemon, Thyme, Almond Sugar Cookies

I'm going to say something very anti-American, and probably even anti-Southern: I don't like lemonade. I just don't. It doesn't do anything for me. Nor do I like lemon in my sweet tea... see, I'm not a complete loss as a Southern gal; I do like sweet tea. Just don't put lemon it it or my water glass, and we'll get along just fine. Here's the catch though... I LOVE lemon in baking and cooking. I'm addicted to any lemon cookie or cake imaginable. 

Now to switch gears here, I also love watching the baking and cooking shows, and after watching enough of them talk about how they incorporate a challenge ingredient into a recipe they already have, I thought, "I bet I can do that too." So, I did. I used my Sugar Cookies recipe (courtesy of Betty Crocker) and made it unrecognizable, but dang, are they good. I replaced some of the flour with almond meal, which creates a wonderful texture for these cookies. I used lemon zest and thyme in the cookies, which created an amazing flavor. Top that with the texture of sliced almonds in the cookie plus a delicious lemon glaze and sugared lemon zest, and oh my. This really isn't a difficult recipe, and would be a good starter recipe for you.

Cookies
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
2-3 lemons (zest and juice, separated)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup almond meal
1 tsp ground thyme
1/2 tsp thyme leaves, plus a little more for decoration
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup diced almond slices, plus a a few more for decorations

Glaze
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar for glaze
1/2 tsp almond extract

In a small bowl combine the flour, almond meal, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and thyme. Whisk gently until mixed.

Chop the almonds until they're the size you want. The cookies are thinner because they're sugar cookies, so you don't want the almonds pieces to be too large.

Zest and juice the lemons. Put a couple of teaspoons in a separate bowl with a pinch of sugar - start with a couple teaspoons. "Fluff" the sugar and zest together to coat it. Keep adding sugar to this during the making and baking of the cookies until the zest is crystalized and drier and doesn't look like it will take any more sugar.

In your stand mixer add the butter, powdered sugar, egg, vanilla extract, almond extract, lemon zest and about a teaspoon of lemon juice. 

With the paddle attachment, combine ingredients until smooth. Fold in dry ingredients.

Mix in almonds  until spread throughout evenly.

Wrap dough in plastic and chill in the refrigerator for three hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sprinkle flour lightly on your surface, and then roll out dough to 3/16" thickness. Cut to desired shapes - I used a round with scalloped edges.

Bake cookies 7-8 minutes or until edges just begin to brown. Rest cookies for at least 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack until they are cool and set firm.

Create glaze by combining powdered sugar, almond extract and enough lemon juice to reach a nice thick glaze. You want the glaze thick enough to adhere to the cookie without running off too much. Dip each cookie into the glaze and then let it rest on a piece of parchment.

I set up an assembly line of dried thyme leaves, sugared lemon zest, almonds, and I added a little crystal sugar decoration to give a little extra crunch and shine to the cookies. Sprinkle on just a few thyme leaves, as much sugared lemon zest as you prefer, and a design with the almonds to your liking.

Allow cookies to rest on parchment until dry and hardened before putting in a container. But enjoy one or two as soon as possible because these are amazing!

If you give this recipe a chance, please let me know how it worked for you!

Cardamom Cinnamon Cookies

Cinnamon is a staple in every kitchen because it is delicious and just adds that special umph to so many baked goods. Cardamom on the other hand, may not be a spice you keep in your pantry, but you know what... you should! It is amazing, and these cookies will knock your socks off. I've gotten so many compliments on these Cardamom Cinnamon Cookies. I found the recipe on Pinterest as Cardamom Cookies, but as will most recipes I find, I fiddled with it. And it is good. But more than being good, they are also really easy to make.

1/2 cup melted butter or margarine

1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp cardamom
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

Morena sugar or regular sugar for rolling cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter for 25-30 seconds.

Add the remaining ingredients (I add the egg last since the butter is usually still a little warm).

Mix everything until combined.

Use a 1-inch cookie scoop to portion cookies. Roll in sugar.

Then place cookies onto a piece of parchment paper on your cookie tray. Use a glass to flatten cookies. After pressing the first cookie, dip the glass in your rolling sugar. This will keep the glass from sticking to subsequent cookies. The thinner they are flattened, the crispier the cookie will be.

Bake cookies 10-12 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn golden. This is the perfect spot to pull them. This is a crispy cookie, but if you cook them toward the high end of the range, the cookies will be crispier. Let them rest for 5 minutes or so. This will let the cookies finish setting and firm up.