cookie Archives - Eat. Drink. Love.

Chocolate Caramel Blossoms

December 20, 2012 by Stephanie

Too…many…cookies….

I’m not sure I can eat another cookie right now. I know, I sound like a crazy person, but I just can’t eat any more for a while…maybe for like 3 days or something.

But, before I start my cookie hiatus, I have to tell you about these cookies first. Earlier this week, I told you I don’t like peppermint. Today, I am going to tell you that chocolate and caramel are two of the greatest things in the universe. Yup, the universe.

So I am not going to waste any more time and will go straight the recipe. Hubs and I are off to Ohio to spend Christmas with my family. And yes, we are driving. Why? Because we hate ourselves. And also, plane tickets were out of control.

Chocolate Caramel Blossoms

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time: 32 minutes

Yield: About 16 cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar plus 1/4 cup
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. instant espresso (optional)
about 16 Hershey's caramel kisses (chilled in the refrigerator or the freezer)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and 2/3 cup sugar. Mix in the egg and vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, salt, and espresso powder.
Mix the dry ingredients in with the wet ingredients until well-combined.
Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat. Place the remaining sugar in a small bowl. Using your hands, roll the dough into 1-inch balls (about 1 tablespoon). Roll each ball into the sugar until lightly coated and place on the baking sheet about 1-2 inches apart.
Bake cookies for about 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool for about 2 minutes. Place a kiss in the center of each cookie and press down gently.

http://eat-drink-love.com/2012/12/chocolate-caramel-blossoms/

Filed Under: Cookies, Cristmas, Desserts, Holidays · Tagged With: blossoms, caramel, chocolate, christmas, cookie, hersheys, kisses 13 Comments

Butterballs

December 12, 2012 by Stephanie

I’m so excited for today’s post. This year, I participated in The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. This is the second year of the swap. The premise is simple, bake 3 dozen cookies and send them to three different bloggers. And in return, you get 3 dozen cookies from other other bloggers! Fun, right?!

I signed up without a clue of what I was going to make, I just knew I wanted to join in on the fun. After looking through 10 thousand different recipes, I settled on an old family favorite…Butterballs. Some of you may call them Snowballs. But, I call them Butterballs, so that’s what we’re going with here!

I bet you can’t guess the main ingredient in these cookies…it’s butter! Lots and lots of butter. So you know these are good. They are pretty simple to make. We usually just mix in some chopped walnuts in ours, but you can also add mini chocolate chips if you wanted.

I sent my cookies to three lovely bloggers: Linda of Tumbleweed Contessa, Carrie from Kiss My Whisk, and Kelli from The Corner Kitchen. Ladies, I hope these cookies made it to you safe and sound and that they were not in a million pieces!

Butterballs

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: About 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 lb. butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar (plus extra for rolling the cookies in after they bake)
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup finely chopped nuts (walnuts)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cream together the butter and powdered sugar until smooth.
Sift together the flour and salt. Add the flour gradually to the butter and sugar mixture until well-combined.
Blend in the vanilla and the walnuts using your hands. Chill the dough for about 30 minutes in the fridge or 15 minutes in the freezer.
Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat. Form the dough into balls (or into crescent shapes) and place on the baking sheet.
Bake cookies for about 14-17 minutes or until a very light golden brown.
Allow the cookies to cool slightly. While still warm, roll each one in extra powdered sugar.

http://eat-drink-love.com/2012/12/butterballs/

Filed Under: Cookies, Desserts · Tagged With: butterball, butterballs, christmas, cookie, cookie swap, food blogger 13 Comments

Fig Bars

September 21, 2012 by Stephanie

After making my fig, prosciutto, and arugula pizza last week, I had a lot of fresh figs to use up. Seeing all those fresh figs made me think about good ol’ Fig Newtons. I have not had one in forevvvverrr. This had to be fixed!

I kind of want to call these lazy Fig Newtons since I didn’t roll the dough and wrap it up around the figs like Fig Newtons. I just stuck it in between, but whatevs, it’s still pretty much the same thing! But, hey, I did make my own fig preserve so that counts for something, right?!

I might consider making a little more of the fig mixture next time as I felt there was a lot of cookie and not quite enough fig. But, these are tasty and are perfect to make for the fall and the holidays!

Fig Bars

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Yield: 16 bars

Ingredients

For the Fig Filling:

2 lbs. fresh figs (or 1 lb. dried)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 tbs. fresh lemon juice

For the Cookie Dough:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare an 8x8 baking dish by covering it in aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Slice each fig in half and scoop out the seeds and pulp into a bowl. Discard the skins.
Add the scooped fig, sugar, water, and lemon juice into a medium saucepan. Heat on medium heat. Mash the figs with a potato masher. Cook until the water dissolves and the figs reach a jam-like consistency. Set aside.
Beat together the butter and brown sugar in a mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder, and the salt. Gradually add the dry mixture into the wet mixture until well-combined.
Take about 3/4 cup of the dough and set aside. Place the rest of the dough into the prepared baking dish. Spread the dough evenly into the dish. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned.
While the bottom layer is baking, roll out the 3/4 cup of the dough between two pieces of wax paper sprayed with non-stick spray into an 8x8 square. Place the dough into the freezer for about 15 minutes until firm.
Once the bottom layer is done baking, spread the fig mixture evenly. Remove the top layer from the freezer, pull away the wax paper and place the dough on top of the fig mixture. Bake for another 25 minutes or until the top layer is golden brown. Let cool for at least 2 hours and then slice into squares.

Notes

Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

http://eat-drink-love.com/2012/09/fig-bars/

Filed Under: Cookies, Desserts · Tagged With: cookie, fig bars, fig newtons, fresh figs, homemade 44 Comments

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

November 16, 2011 by Stephanie

What the what?! Chocolate cookie dough dip?! I know what you’re thinking, “OMG, that sounds delightful, but also horribly fattening!” I’m going to let you all in on a little secret…this cookie dough dip is actually healthy! It’s healthy because it’s made with chick peas! There is no flour, butter, oil, or eggs in this dip. I first saw this recipe last spring when Chocolate-Covered Katie posted it on her blog. My first thought was that there was no way this would be good. But, then after looking at her pictures and reading the comments, I started to think that maybe this is pretty good stuff so I added it to my list of recipes to try. I finally decided to make it last week!

After whipping up a batch, I took a spoon and dug right in. At first, I didn’t like it at all. The texture was all wrong, so I let it go in the food processor for a little longer and went in for another bite and this time, I still wasn’t sure. I took some graham crackers and dipped them into the dip, still wasn’t quite sure. Two whole graham crackers later, I couldn’t stop eating this cookie dough dip. At that point, I decided it must be good! I stuck in the fridge for a couple of hours and served it at a party later that night. Just as Katie did, I didn’t tell people what it was until after they ate it. Maybe they were just being nice, but my friends said it was good! And perhaps it was the drinks I had, but I think this dip got better and better throughout the night!

I served some graham crackers with this dip which was really great with it, and seriously, how often can you say that the stuff you are dipping into your dip is worse than the dip itself?! If you want a healthier dipper, I recommend some cut up fruit. Apple slices and strawberries would be wonderful!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

Serves 4-6

From Chocolate-Covered Katie

Ingredients:

– 1 15-ounce can chick (garbanzo) peas, drained

– 1/8 tsp. salt

– a pinch over /8 tsp. baking soda

– 2 tsp. vanilla extract

– 1/4 cup nut butter (I used peanut and it was delicious! Not overwhelming at all!)

– Up to 1/4 cup milk (or soy milk), add 1 tbs. at a time

– 2/3 cup brown sugar (see note below to make sugar-free)

– 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients (except chips) in a food processor or blender. Process until the mixture is smooth and achieves a texture that is similar to cookie dough. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes:
- If you want to make this sugar-free, you can swap out the sugar for Splenda or Stevia.