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Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies

February 27, 2012 by 1 Comment

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Let’s start off the week with something sweet! A fun cookie! Another recipe I saw on Pinterest, these interested me because I had half a container of Oreos left in my pantry from the trifle I made in December, and I’m trying to clean out my pantry before the move.

These cookies are basically chocolate chip cookies with Oreos added in. They didn’t turn out as plump as I hoped and as the picture showed, but I think that has to do with a lot of things, like baking soda/powder, butter, etc.

I also liked this recipe because it was a smaller amount than the traditional Tollhouse cookie recipe I make. This made about half, way more manageable to cook and share.

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Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick softened butter
  • 6 Tablespoons sugar
  • 6 Tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 ¼ cup flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 11 broken pieces Oreo Cookies (I cut this down to 6 because it started to look very Oreo heavy, but I think you could add more)
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

 Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Cream butter, and sugars until well combined. Add egg and vanilla until mixed well.
  • Place flour, baking soda and salt into a large bowl, stir to combine. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients then stir in oreos and chocolate chips until just combined.
  • With a medium cookie scoop, scoop onto baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until cooked, but still soft.
  •  Let cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

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 These cookies are also realllyyy good with Blue Bell Cookies and Cream Ice Cream! I would even say they’re a perfect match! Especially at 37 weeks pregnant.

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Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

 

Ingredients
  • 1 stick softened butter
  • 6 Tablespoons sugar
  • 6 Tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 ¼ cup flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 11 broken pieces Oreo Cookies (I cut this down to 6 because it started to look very Oreo heavy, but I think you could add more)
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Cream butter, and sugars until well combined. Add egg and vanilla until mixed well.
  3. Place flour, baking soda and salt into a large bowl, stir to combine. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients then stir in oreos and chocolate chips until just combined.
  4. With a medium cookie scoop, scoop onto baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until cooked, but still soft.
  5. Let cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

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Tollhouse Cookie Bars

February 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Happy February, here’s a sweet treat to start the month off right! It’s chocolatey, crunchy, and a childhood favorite in a new way.

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Tollhouse cookies are a family tradition. We’ve been making them for dozens of years I think! My mom and sister have memorized the recipe, and no one can turn down a delicious cookie. I personally think the dough is the best part and even used to save some in the fridge when I was a kid.

I adapted the recipe into cookie bars to try something different, and they take less time in the kitchen since you spread all the dough out to cook at once.

I also had some peanut butter chocolate chips that my mom brought us for nibbling. I crushed them all up and used them in the recipe with regular chocolate chips to try something different. It didn’t taste as much of peanut butter as I thought, but they were just as good as regular chocolate chips.

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Tollhouse Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter or margarine, softened (2 sticks)
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate morsels (I used half peanut butter chocolate chips)
  • 1 cup chopped pecans

Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  • Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
  • Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy.
  • Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  • Gradually beat in flour mixture.
  • Stir in morsels and nuts.
  • In a rectangular pan (I used a 9 x 12), spray with cooking spray and spread dough evenly.
  • Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack, cut into squares.

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 A delicious variation on the traditional cookie, and just as good! I hope you try these out this month!

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Tollhouse Cookie Bars
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

 

Ingredients
  • Tollhouse Cookie Bars
  • 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter or margarine, softened (2 sticks)
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate morsels (I used half peanut butter chocolate chips)
  • 1 cup chopped pecans

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
  3. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy.
  4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  5. Gradually beat in flour mixture.
  6. Stir in morsels and nuts.
  7. In a rectangular pan (I used a 9 x 12), spray with cooking spray and spread dough evenly.
  8. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack, cut into squares.

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Gingerbread Cookies

December 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment

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Mmm another holiday cookie. These little gingerbread cookies were one of my favorites last year, and I couldn’t wait to make them again. I barely waited until the calendar hit December to make them. You will want to bookmark this one. Play some music, dedicate a whole afternoon, and get down to cookie making.

This year, I made shapes of Christmas trees, snowflakes, stockings, stars, and of course, gingerbread men.

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I wrote a more detailed post last year when I baked these for the first time. It takes a few hours of dedication to these cookies, but they are so cute and turn out great. And I really like how they aren’t too crispy or end up soft. They freeze perfectly, are easy to cut with a cutter, and bake quickly. I really like this recipe.

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Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 3 1/4 C sifted all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 C unsalted butter, room temperature (1.5 sticks)
  • 1/2 C dark brown sugar, packed
  • 1 T ground ginger
  • 1 T ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 C unsulfured molasses

Instructions:

  • In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and spices. Set aside.
  • In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Mix in eggs and molasses. Gradually add flour mixture; combine on low speed.
  • Divide dough into thirds, wrapping each in Saran Wrap. Chill for at least one hour or overnight. Before rolling out, let it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. If the dough is too soft to roll (or is sticky), add in more flour.
  • Heat oven to 350*. Place a dough third on a large piece of parchment paper. Using a rolling pin, roll to 1/8 inch thick. Refrigerate again for 5-10 minutes. Use a cookie cutter to make shapes, lay on ungreased cookie pan. Press raisins or chocolate chips into dough as buttons.
  • Bake for 8-10 minutes until crisp. Let sit until cooler and move to a wire rack. Decorate only after it completely cools.

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 This year, I took a little help from the store for the icing. Last year, I made a Royal Icing from scratch, but I just didn’t feel like dirtying the mixer again after cleaning it! So I bought a tube of icing and some points and squeezed it out as I needed the cookies.

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Gingerbread Cookies
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

 

Ingredients
  • 3¼ C sifted all-purpose flour
  • ¾ tsp baking soda
  • ¾ C unsalted butter, room temperature (1.5 sticks)
  • ½ C dark brown sugar, packed
  • 1 T ground ginger
  • 1 T ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground cloves
  • ½ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • ½ C unsulfured molasses

Instructions
  1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and spices. Set aside.
  2. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Mix in eggs and molasses. Gradually add flour mixture; combine on low speed.
  3. Divide dough into thirds, wrapping each in Saran Wrap. Chill for at least one hour or overnight. Before rolling out, let it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. If the dough is too soft to roll (or is sticky), add in more flour.
  4. Heat oven to 350*. Place a dough third on a large piece of parchment paper. Using a rolling pin, roll to ⅛ inch thick. Refrigerate again for 5-10 minutes. Use a cookie cutter to make shapes, lay on ungreased cookie pan. Press raisins or chocolate chips into dough as buttons.

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Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

December 7, 2011 by 3 Comments

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These cookies will help you get through a hump day, or anyday. Somewhere between a Tollhouse cookie and an after dinner mint, these cookies are soft and plump with a crispy exterior.

As much as I try to bake healthy, cooking with butter is just really, really much better.

Here is how this cookie came to be: I wanted to find a cookie that I could make a lot of for gifts. I wanted them to be perfectly delicious, a nice round size, and special.

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I started with this recipe on How Sweet It Is, doubled it, subbed in Andes mint baking chips (win!) instead of chocolate chips, and then realized that her recipe is basically the Tollhouse cookie recipe cut in half. Sneaky. And no wonder they are really good.

My recipe (below), makes about 45 medium sized cookies. Growing up with Tollhouse cookies usually in the house, I rolled these into bigger sized balls which made for a nicely round and substantial cookie size. You could make them smaller for more cookies.

I planned this batch for gifts, but then took them to two parties and now I need to bake more.

The secret that makes these cookies so great are the Andes baking chips. Perfectly chopped, the chocolate blends into the dough and makes even the non-chocolate bites minty. Pretty tasty we think.

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Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

makes about 45 medium cookies

  • 1 cup butter (two sticks), at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2.5 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1.5  cups rolled oats
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 cups Andes mint baking chips (found in the baking aisle at holiday time)

Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 375.
  • Beat butter and sugars with an electric mixer until smooth.
  • Add egg and vanilla, mixing well until combined.
  • Stir in flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon with the mixer on medium speed. Beat in oats.
  • Mix until dough comes together. Fold in chocolate chips.
  • Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  • Remove dough from fridge and roll into big 1 1/2 inch balls. Set on a baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Lightly press down on dough to flatten it.
  • Bake at 375 for 18 minutes, or until edges start to brown.

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 Who can turn down a chocolate cookie? I’ll bet Santa will like them too.

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Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 40
 

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies makes about 45 medium cookies
Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter (two sticks), at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2.5 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1.5  cups rolled oats
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 cups Andes mint baking chips (found in the baking aisle at holiday time)

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375.
  2. Beat butter and sugars with an electric mixer until smooth.
  3. Add egg and vanilla, mixing well until combined.
  4. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon with the mixer on medium speed. Beat in oats.
  5. Mix until dough comes together. Fold in chocolate chips.
  6. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  7. Remove dough from fridge and roll into big 1½ inch balls. Set on a baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Lightly press down on dough to flatten it.
  8. Bake at 375 for 18 minutes, or until edges start to brown.

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Chocolate Dipped Lemon Cookies

November 30, 2011 by 1 Comment

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Tomorrow is December and that means it’s time for holiday cookies! I think I enjoy the process of baking just as much and probably more than the eating part. It is very much an art and craft and such a fun hobby for me. Baking and cooking really are a science, and I like taking ingredients and putting them together and making flavors complement each other, like we did here with lemon and chocolate.

The first of the holiday cookies this year are lemon cookies dipped in chocolate. Jeffrey’s sister, Amy, requested a lemon dessert for a Sunday night dinner, and I didn’t have anything in mind. I decided on a lemon shortbread cookie from Martha Stewart, and then decided to dip them in chocolate to make them more exciting.

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Holiday cookies I show here are most likely not of the healthful variety unless I say so. These have two sticks of butter and two kinds of sugar. Jeffrey said the dough tasted like lemon butter. Delish, right? The chocolate helped make them more yummy.

These cookies were just like a sugar shortbread cookie but I liked the extra chocolate on top. They were a little breakable, but that means more for sampling. An extra zing would be to add lemon zest to the chocolate before it dries. That would be delish too!

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Chocolate Dipped Lemon Cookies

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar, for rolling
  • 4 oz Baker’s Chocolate, semi-sweet

Directions

  • In a food processor, pulse flour, confectioners’ sugar, salt, and lemon zest until combined. Add butter and process until sandy. Add egg yolks and lemon juice; pulse until dough comes together. Divide dough in half and form each into a 1 1/2-inch-wide log. Wrap in plastic and freeze until firm, about 2 hours (or up to 1 month).
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Spread granulated sugar on a piece of parchment; roll logs over sugar to coat. Slice logs into 1/4-inch-thick slices and arrange, 1 inch apart, on two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cookies are golden brown around edges, about 15 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.
  • Once cool, melt four squares (4 oz) baking chocolate in a microwave safe dish. Quickly spoon or dip cookies in the chocolate and place back on wire rack to harden.
  • Freeze or serve within a day.

As a reminder going into cookie month, my Recipes page is current and separated by meal. Lots of desserts and treats on there if you’re looking for something! Also, there are Tags on the sidebar for Cookies, Dessert, Baked Goods, and Hanukkah/Xmas, so check those out too for posts from last year.

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Chocolate Dipped Lemon Cookies
 

Ingredients
  • Chocolate Dipped Lemon Cookies
  • Adapted from
  • Martha Stewart
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar, for rolling
  • 4 oz Baker’s Chocolate, semi-sweet

Instructions
  1. Directions
  2. In a food processor, pulse flour, confectioners’ sugar, salt, and lemon zest until combined. Add butter and process until sandy. Add egg yolks and lemon juice; pulse until dough comes together. Divide dough in half and form each into a 1½-inch-wide log. Wrap in plastic and freeze until firm, about 2 hours (or up to 1 month).
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Spread granulated sugar on a piece of parchment; roll logs over sugar to coat. Slice logs into ¼-inch-thick slices and arrange, 1 inch apart, on two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cookies are golden brown around edges, about 15 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.
  4. Once cool, melt four squares (4 oz) baking chocolate in a microwave safe dish. Quickly spoon or dip cookies in the chocolate and place back on wire rack to harden.
  5. Freeze or serve within a day.

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Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

July 27, 2011 by 2 Comments

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What do you do with almost rotten bananas? Make cookies!

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The lucky recipient of these cookies was our friend who just had a baby. If you’ve noticed, we have a lot of friends with babies! I like to bake for them. Especially cookies or bars or loaf breads that aren’t too bad for you. Comforting, filling, tasty, and easy to eat is what it’s about.

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Bananas + chocolate chips + oats = the major parts of this cookie.

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Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 egg
  • 1.5 banana, mashed (could do one large or 2ish small), about 1 cup mashed
  • 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 C old fashioned oats
  • 1 C semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugars, mix until smooth. Add in vanilla extract and egg. Next, add the banana. Beat well.
  • Slowly add in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in oats and chocolate chips.
  • Drop cookie dough by heaping tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets that have been lined with parchment paper or Silcone baking mats.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-18 minutes or until golden. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

Makes about 45 small cookies

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These cookies were really cute and fluffy. Sometimes I don’t like banana flavor in a cookie or any desserts, but this was mild and helped keep it from drying out. It also kept it really soft, even after I froze them.

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And bananas are healthy, right? But really, baking with bananas helps add sweetness and wetness without using sugar or oil.

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For all my cookies, I use a little teaspoon cookie scooper that makes them a perfect size. About four little bites.

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A nice, little, golden brown chocolate oatmeal cookie. Yum!

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Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 45 cookies
 

Ingredients
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large banana, mashed
  • 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups old fashioned oats
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions
  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugars, mix until smooth. Add in vanilla extract and egg. Next, add the banana. Beat well.
  3. Slowly add in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in oats and chocolate chips.
  4. Drop cookie dough by heaping tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets that have been lined with parchment paper or Silcone baking mats. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-18 minutes or until golden. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

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Double Chocolate Cookies

May 31, 2011 by 3 Comments

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There once was a time when the only cookie I made at home was a Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie. When I was growing up, we baked those, oatmeal raisin cookies, coffee cake, or brownies from a box as our dessert of choice.  There were deviations for holidays or parties, but the around-the-house cookies were usually chocolate chip.

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When I got older, I discovered a whole world of cookies. Different kinds of chocolate, different shapes, new flours, changing out the nuts, vegan (?!) cookies too. These are not vegan, far from it. But they are different than what I would usually bake.

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Onto the double chocolate cookie–this is a recipe from the Barefoot Contessa show made by the owner of Tate’s Bake Shop in Southampton, NY. When I was in New York in April, we went to Tate’s Bake Shop in Southampton, NY. What a cute store! I still have some purchases in our freezer. Anyhoo, Ina lives in the Hamptons, Tate’s is in the Hamptons, and the owner baked this cookie on her show. We swooned. And then immediately printed the recipe.

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This cookie required the stand mixer (you know it’s a serious cookie when you have to pull out the big guy) and made over four dozen little cookies of the size in the pics. They are firm outside, pillowy inside. Crunchy with chopped walnuts, gooey from melted chocolate chips. I liked best that they weren’t a crunch cookie on the outside like crumbly. I like soft cookies best. What more do you want?

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I know what more, you want good dough. I would happily become a raw foodie if uncooked cookie dough is included in the diet. This dough was realllyyy good. It has 2.5 sticks of butter for one, a cup of cocoa powder, chocolate chips, nuts, sugars, I could go on. Oh wait, I do go on below. Back to the dough–it’s interesting to me how batter/dough changes consistency based on the way you mix, the order you mix, and the ratios of flour to butter. I cringe when I see people write “dump all ingredients in a bowl and mix.” That’s just not correct. I read Michael Ruhlman’s Ratio to learn why. This dough was not a wet dough, just really chocolatey and good. I know that’s not a great adjective, but you can imagine how heavenly chocolate cookie dough is licked off your finger. There’s only one raw egg so forget about that part.

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Oh you want the recipe? Ok I’ll share. The original recipe had white chocolate chips, which I omitted, and almonds. I subbed walnuts. I really think my cookie sounds better. I didn’t think it needed white chocolate and I prefer semi-sweet anyway. I did not increase the amount of chocolate chips, I just omitted. I also thought walnuts were better than almonds. Maybe almonds seemed too much like they belong in granola and not in a cookie.

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Double Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients (makes ~55 small cookies)

  • 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) salted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup firmly packed dark or light brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup walnuts, chopped

Directions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  • In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
  • In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter and sugars. Add the egg and vanilla and mix together. Add the flour mixture and continue mixing until just combined.
  • Add the chocolate chips and walnuts and mix until combined. Using two tablespoons or a small ice cream scoop, drop the dough two inches apart on sheet pans lined with parchment. Bake for 15 minutes.
  • Cool the cookies on the cookie sheets. The cookies should be very soft when they are removed from the oven. They will firm up as they cool.

 

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The recipe is a traditional cookie baking recipe, but the flavors are perfection.  I really loved the decadent cocoa with chocolate chips and walnuts combo. You must try. I’m also sorry I’m sharing a chocolate cookie recipe with 2.5 sticks of butter during bathing suit season right after a long weekend of summer gluttony. I hear one-pieces are becoming more fashionable.

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What’s your absolute favorite cookie variety?

P.S. I have a coupon to pass on for Calphalon products. They were a sponsor of Eat Write Retreat and are offering readers 10% off their products online. They have NEVER done a discount like this and are starting to try new outreach things. If you are interested, the promotional code for Calphalon.com is:  C95926. Use this link:  http://store.calphalon.com/?CCAID=SCSNBLPR19

Details for this code are:  *Clearance Items and Gift Certificates do not qualify. Excludes John Boos & Co. Cannot be combined with other special offers or applied to previous purchases. Terms subject to change. Offer valid through June 6th, 2011.

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Momofuku Compost Cookies Take 1

April 29, 2011 by 2 Comments

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Here is the story of the Momofuku Compost cookie. Momofuku Milk Bar is a bakery in New York City. Although I was in NYC two weeks ago, I hadn’t heard of them yet. When I came home, I heard about this place on three occassions. I read about these cookies on Plum Pie Cooks. My mom said she has this on her “must visit” list for a trip this summer, and the Cooking Channel featured their pies in a Unique Sweets show.

When you hear about something so wonderful three times, you know it must be good.

Brooke (Plum Pie Cooks), was so kind to try these cookies out and post the recipe. I followed her steps and her baker’s tips and tried them myself earlier this week. They didn’t turn out as pretty as hers, but they are good. These cookies are pretty labor intensive, in my opinion, and take a while too.

I do know what I would do differently if I make these again, but for now, I wanted to share the recipe if you want to try them out too.

The beauty and fun of a “compost” cookie are the ingredients. It’s basically a junk cookie where you can add anything you have on hand, like chocolate chips of different varieties (white, semi-sweet, peanut butter, butterscotch), pretzels, potato chips, peanut butter, nuts, raisins, it goes on!

The problem I ran into was that my chocolate chips were a bit crowded in some cookies and didn’t melt, and the chunks of pretzels were a bit confusing, like “did I just bite into an egg shell or is that supposed to be there?”

The other problem I had was that my cookies were very flat and spread quite a bit. They were soft and crunchy at the same time, which I liked, but they weren’t as strong as I expected. Follow below for those reasons below the recipe.

Momofuku Compost Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 tsps baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp Kosher salt
  • 1 cup oats (I forgot these! Oops!)
  • 2 1/2 cups your favorite baking ingredients (options: chocolate chips, other flavored chips, Cocoa Krispies, m&m’s, reese’s peanut butter cups)
  • 1 1/2 cups your favorite snack foods (options: chips, pretzels)

I used chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, pretzel sticks and Fritos.

Instructions:

  • In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugars on medium high for two to three minutes until fluffy and pale yellow in color. Scrape down the sides with a spatula. On a lower speed, add eggs and vanilla to incorporate.
  • Increase mixing speed to medium-high and start a timer for 10 minutes. (see Brooke’s site for why she did 5 minutes)
  • Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. When butter mixture is pale and fluffy, on a lower speed, add the flour mixture. Mix just until your dough comes together and all remnants of dry ingredients have incorporated. Do not walk away from your mixer during this time or you will risk over mixing the dough. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.
  • On the same low speed, add in your favorite baking ingredients and oats. Mix just until they evenly mix into the dough. Add in your favorite snack foods last, paddling again on low speed until they are just incorporated.
  • Using an ice cream scoop, portion cookie dough onto a parchment lined sheetpan.
  • Wrap scooped cookie dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of one hour or up to 1 week. DO NOT BAKE your cookies from room temperature or they will not hold their shape.
  • Heat the oven to 375 F. Take the plastic off your cookies and bake 9 to 12 minutes. While in the oven, the cookies will puff, crackle and spread.
  • At 9 minutes, the cookies should be browned on the edges and just beginning to brown towards the center. Leave the cookies in the oven for the additional minutes if these colors don’t match up and your cookies still seem pale and doughy on the surface.
  • Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pan before transferring to a plate or an airtight container or tin for storage. At room temp, they’ll keep five days.

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If I make these cookies again, here’s what I would do differently:

  • I would add the oats like the recipe instructs. I had them on my counter, but they didn’t get added in. Big oops.
  • I would also let the dough chill in the refrigerator for a few hours. I left it for about one hour, but I would let it chill longer.
  • I would use bigger pretzel chunks, and probably pick a different chip, maybe like a classic Lays potato chip.
  • I would probably also try to find a better scoop. I used a spoon and it probably should have been formed better.

What’s the last thing you learned from cooking?

Remember, to win a batch of these cookies, leave a comment on yesterday’s post!

Filed Under: Dessert · Tagged With: ,

Classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

April 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Passover is coming, so there won’t be many cookies like this one posted for a while. This is a classic Oatmeal Raisin cookie. Classic with plump Sunmaid raisins, classic with Quaker oats. Classic with sticks of butter, white flour and white sugar. Doesn’t get too much more homey and old fashioned.

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I made this batch of cookies for Jeffrey’s office as a thank you for helping my computer come back to life. Anyone that solves my computer or technical problems should be rewarded with cookies. Classic ones.

Classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1/2  cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 3/4  cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1/2  cup granulated sugar
  • 2  eggs
  • 1  teaspoon vanilla
  • 1-1/2  cups all-purpose flour
  • 1  teaspoon baking soda
  • 1  teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2  teaspoon salt (optional)
  • 3  cups Quaker Oats
  • 1  cup raisins

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Instructions:

  • Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.
  • Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
  • Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

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Butter does amazing things for cookies. White flour too. I’m all for making cookies healthier, but sometimes a classic cookie is just so good. I love how the raisins really pop, and I love how the butter makes them so soft.

I didn’t even miss the chocolate from my other favorite classic cookie, the chocolate chip cookie like these. Also made with butter.

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What’s your favorite classic cookie?

Filed Under: Dessert, Recipes · Tagged With:

Springtime Cookies

April 4, 2011 by 2 Comments

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Springtime cookies scream color and fun. Try these easy and kid-friendly cookies for a fun treat. Not healthy in the slightest with a stick of butter, brown sugar, and white flour, they are just really tasty old-fashioned peanut butter cookies.

Peanut Butter M&M Cookies

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Ingredients:

  • 1 stick butter, softened
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup M&Ms, crushed lightly
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Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy with a hand or stand mixer (I used hand).
  • Add the peanut butter butter and mix well.
  • Add the egg and vanilla extract and continue to beat until smooth.
  • Crush the M&Ms in a ziploc bag with a rolling pin.
  • Combine the flour, baking powder and salt together then add to the wet ingredients. Mix in the M&Ms.
  • Spoon out small balls of dough onto lined baking sheet (I use Silpats). Bake for 12-15 minutes or until puffy and golden.

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These could easily be frozen, which I do with most things I bake if they aren’t for immediate consumption. You could also flatten them out and get a flatter baked cookie. The M&Ms give it a fun bit of chocolate without using chocolate chips.

If you are catching up from the weekend, I wrote on Saturday about why I rooted for Kentucky. Unfortunately, they lost to Connecticut on Saturday night, and UConn plays Butler in Houston tonight. Root with me for Butler! I can still win second place in my bracket if UConn loses. Soooo, go Butler! Their mascot is a bulldog names Blue II. He’s cute.

Also, I ran a 4 mile race on Saturday at Memorial Park in Houston. It was my first race since the half marathon in Dallas four months ago! Read that recap here.

And if you followed on Saturday too, my computer hard drive died, it was only four months old. I am back on my computer with a new hard drive and most of my files moved over. I’m about 90% good as new and will hopefully be able to recover the last four months of photos soon. The lesson here is to back up everything you may want to see again.

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